


Heroes and Villains

by tititenis



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, F/F, F/M, Gen, Magical Bond, The Enchanted Forest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-08
Updated: 2016-11-28
Packaged: 2018-08-29 20:05:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 49,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8503591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tititenis/pseuds/tititenis
Summary: Enchanted Forest AU following the Season 4 finale. In order to save her mother from becoming the new Dark One, Henry Mills uses the quill to send everyone back to Enchanted Forest, most specifically to the time when the Evil Queen tried to cast the Dark Curse. But, this time Fate stops the Evil Queen and instead gives her a second chance to gain absolution for her previous crimes. Meanwhile, in the White Kingdom, Princess Emma White runs away from home after being told that she would have to marry Prince Killian of the Underwater Kingdom. On her journey, the Princess meets a beautiful brunette witch that keeps saving her life for some reason and can't stop herself from growing attached.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> The following story, which is already complete, will will take place in the Enchanted Forest, 18 years after the Evil Queen sacrifices her father's heart to cast the Dark Curse. Nevertheless, although the story is mostly AU, the Enchanted Forest character's backstories do come from Canon (the ones seen during the Flashbacks).   
> I'll upload chapters as much as I can, mostly because the second part of this story is already in the works. Hopefully I will have that one done by the time I finish uploading this story.

**Author's Note for this prologue: SEASON 4 FINALE SPOILERS.**

* * *

**There was an enchanted forest filled with all the classic characters we know. Or think we know. One day someone trapped them in a place where all their happy endings were changed. This is what happened after...**

"Henry, fix it." Emma whispered after watching the quill react to Henry's touch.

There was still hope for them. They could save everyone. They could save Regina.

"Write everything the way it was." she said hopefully. 

"Without ink he is not writing anything." Isaac told them smugly.

"My blood, it was supposed to work last time." the blonde woman said while grabbing a sword and pointing it towards her arm, ready to make the necessary sacrifice.

"Yes, when mixed with darkness." Henry explained to her. "But you are not the Savior here. Because of him." he angrily pointed towards Isaac, who just kept smiling. "But it doesn't mean we didn't find one. And in this world, we don't need a dark Savior. We need a light one." he realized and ran towards his Mom's side, hoping that he was right.

"Don't!" Isaac yelled while trying to run towards the young boy. 

"Henry do it!" Emma kept Isaac away from them.

Softly, Henry dipped the tip of the quill near her Mom's hand, trying his best to not cause her pain in any way. After the blood was taken, Henry opened the notebook that he took from Isaac and prayed to all the known and unknown Gods that this worked.

It took him everything to keep his eyes open, the kaleidoscope of colors and lights blinding him and his surroundings. He had felt the power of the quill calling him, asking him to fix things, but at the same time he had heard another request. A request to return the story to where it was truly meant to go. It was almost as if the quill was foretelling him that an unbalance in the natural order of things would arise the moment they returned to Storybrooke. And Henry, tenacious as ever and with the heart of the truest believer beating in his chest, decided to trust this hunch; this feeling that was rising from the bottom of his stomach and take them further back. But he was no fool, for he knew what this choice would mean for him; the sacrifice he would be making by taking all these people to another time.

He would not exist. 

_"Yet."_ a melodious voice whispered to him. _"For you are destined to be the Author, Henry Daniel Mills."_

"But my mothers." Henry choked. "They are finally happy. I cannot do that to them. I cannot destroy their happiness."

_"And no one is asking you to."_

"But by rewriting everything they will not be with their True Loves."

_"As Author you will learn that there are many paths a person can take during their life, and that those paths can lead to many people that can attempt to fill a hole from the past. Your mothers' paths were shaped by others, enforced by darker forces that only wanted to find their own happiness no matter the cost. Now you have the chance to do what's right. You have the chance to help your mothers find their Truest Love."_

"Truest Love? I thought that True Love was the most powerful magic of all."

_"And from where does magic come from Henry? It comes from Truest Love."_ the voice said firmly. _"Truest Love is the union of two individuals, selected before the beginning of time, that represent opposites and are yet the same. They are the Light and the Dark. They are Day and Night. They are Nature and Nurture. For these two souls to meet can bring balance to our universe, a balance that was shifted by one sole man."_

"Rumplestiltskin."

_"Correct."_ the voice said sadly _. "Unfortunately for him, Fate planned to punish him by never letting him see his son again. Fate does not like it when someone messes with their plans."_

"But that's not fair. Everyone deserves to have a second chance. A chance at redemption." Henry said fervently.

_"Do not mistake things, Author. Rumplestiltskin was given many chances in his life."_  thevoice determined. _"In fact, many tragedies could have been prevented from happening were it not for him."_

"My Ma would have spent her childhood with her parents. My Mom would have had her True Love. They would have been happy." Henry said, smiling softly. "But then I would have never existed because the Curse would have never been enacted."

_"But is your existence solely limited to one reality?"_ the voice asked him _. "It is destined that you will exist, Henry Mills. It is also destined that you will have two mothers to raise you since an author needs to understand the Light as much as the Dark."_

"How farther back do you want me to take them?" Henry asked.

_"To the time before the Evil Queen casts the Dark Curse."_ the voice replies _. "For you see, in order to correct the timeline, your mother has to fail in casting the curse There has to be no need for a Savior."_

"So then my Mom is still going to suffer extreme loss. She will be unhappy, she will be evil again." Henry complains immediately.

His mother had come too far, had redeemed herself already and he was not going to destroy all of that.

_"Fate has a way of planning things; and your mother's suffering is what creates the darkness needed for her to take her path towards redemption. Darkness, in this case, does not mean evil. What will change in this instance is that this path needs to start in the Enchanted Forest, without you creating it but with the presence of another soul. A Light soul."_

"Emma..." Henry said, finally understanding what the voice had been telling him. "Emma will help my Mom in her path." he smiled warmly. "During this time in Storybrooke when they offered to help each other out, Ma with Operation Mongoose and Mom with saving Emma from her darkness, it always felt that something deeper than friendship was going on between the two of them."

_"You are correct. Truest Love souls will always find each other no matter the realm or reality."_

"So if we were to go back now to Storybrooke they would still get together."

_"Yes."_ the voice said cautiously, understanding Henry's line of thought _. "But this new danger that will emerge after your return to your realm cannot occur. Once you take everyone back to Storybrooke, Rumplestiltskin's heart will collapse; which will release the darkness that is tied to the Dark One's dagger. As it happens with darkness, it tries to find the closest person to having a similar power."_

"My Mom." Henry whispered. "She has dark and light magic."

_"Correct."_ the voice replied _. "But, and because of your mothers' shared Truest Love and Emma's role as the Savior..."_

"She sacrifices herself and becomes the new Dark One." Henry completed the voice's statement. "And what happens after that?"

_"I'm afraid that is it."_ the voice says solemnly _. "The moment Emma's status as Savior mixes with the powers of the Dark One a magical paradox occurs, destroying all that was created many eons ago and the story restarts itself."_

"But that is not possible, it cannot be." he murmured. "And also, why does Fate care so much? Isn't it the same for them who is involved in the story as long as there is a story?"

_"Let's just say that Fate is deeply invested in this story. For them to begin anew, and to then reach the same place in the timeline does not work too well."_

"So then Fate also wins something by making me change things." Henry snorted.

_"Of course."_ the voice replied _. "Do not get confused. Fate hardly intervenes in matters that involve humans. In fact, this is the main reason why this story has developed this way. But, in the face of complete destruction, It has decided to correct previous mistakes and rewrite things."_

"And my mothers will find happiness?" Henry asked again. "With each other?"

_"Yes." the voice answered him. "The road will not be easy, as it usually is when it comes to love, but you will get your heart's deepest desire Henry Daniel Mills. You will get the family you always wanted."_ was the last thing he heard before he opened his eyes and saw the notebook in his hands, quill ready to write.

Henry took one last breath, ready to do what was needed to do, and started to write...

**"Thanks to the Hero Regina's sacrifice, Isaac's villainous work was undone, which made all people return to the paths Fate had planned beforehand."** he magically wrote, watching how the letters shined brightly against the paper.

Turning around to get one last glance at his mothers, Henry noticed that Emma had gotten closer to Regina, slowly having grabbed one of her hands. He could see it in their eyes, what the voice had told him, their Truest Love not understood but still very clear. Closing his eyes, he felt warmth spread around him, encompassing all the people in the Enchanted Forest and sending them to their true path.

"We will see each other again." Henry whispered, giving them one last bright smile before everything became complete darkness.


	2. Betrayals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Evil Queen has taken the heart of the thing she loves most and is ready to make the final sacrifice to enact the Dark Curse. Unfortunately, someone also told Prince Charming of her plans and he's ready to stop her.   
> Meanwhile, Princess Emma has just found out that her parents are planning to marry her of to Prince Killian of the Underwater Kingdom, which of course does not bode well for our heroine.

_I am so close,_ Regina thought while throwing the last ingredient on the fire. Now that she had prepared the campfire with the hairs of the most vicious creatures the Enchanted Forest had, the only thing missing for her to finally win was to throw the heart of the thing she loved most. She suddenly remembered her father's face at the moment she took his heart out, somehow accepting his fate and resigning himself to her daughter's wrath.

Regina should have felt complete sorrow, she should have been unable to kill his father, but it only took her to recall his cowardice when it came to defending her against her mother and that motivated her enough to push her hand inside his chest. In fact, and perhaps in order to appease herself, Regina had seen it all as a final sacrifice; a way of her to forgive him for all the times he had failed to protect her from her mother and her darkness. And with his heart came her chance for a new beginning, for a new place where she would finally get what Fate had taken away from her the moment Snow White entered her life.

Desperate to finally finish the Curse, Regina failed to notice the soft steps that were moving closer to her.

"Now! Seize her!" Prince Charming screamed to his men who had been hiding behind the trees of the Dark Forest and were now throwing themselves at the Evil Queen.

Regina looked up from her position, surprised and scared at having been found so soon. What were they even doing here to begin with? No one knew about this place. Well, no one that would align themselves with the White Kingdom, or so she thought. Clearly someone had betrayed her, and now she had to face these men and kill them.

 _Well, not that I care anyway,_ she mused and called her magic forward, creating fireballs in her hands. Yet the moment she started to throw them at the knights of Prince Charming she noticed that the fireballs merely faded into nothingness or simply bounced away. Taking a better look at the shields, Regina noticed that they had an enchantment that prevented them from damaging. Panicking, Regina doubled her efforts in an attempt to break the spell: She had to succeed no matter the price. Too much had already been given to cast this Curse and her plans for her victory had already been meticulously thought and planned.

In fact, she had already planned how it was all going to be: The moment she was done with casting the curse she was going to ride her carriage towards the White Kingdom, her Dark Curse following closely behind her. Then she would attack the few loyal subjects that were most probably protecting Snow White and end it all with taking her child, the Savior. She knew that her revenge plan was solid. In fact, over the course of the previous months she had tricked and deceived many for it to succeed. And yet here she was, quickly getting tired of exerting this much magic. Regina knew that if she kept going at this pace she would soon enough run out of power to defend herself. The mere idea of losing her power only made her more angry, which was shown through bitter tears.

It was obvious that she was going to fail again, her father's life having been wasted for nothing.

Meanwhile, Prince Charming was moving around his men, telling them to keep their shields raised. There was chaos all around him, magic balls of fire coming out of the Evil Queen's hands preventing them from getting closer to her. But even he could see that the witch was growing tired; all thanks to the enchantment placed by the fairies on his guards' shields. Charming knew that the battle was almost over, and after being separated from his wife at such a crucial moment, he was ready to end things once and for all. He moved forward, hoping that his soldiers were doing enough to divert the woman from seeing him approach her. Charming had been told that in order for the Curse to be cast, the Evil Queen needed to spread the contents of a black box inside the fire. Looking for said book, it only took him a few seconds to find it safely kept behind the woman's body. Noticing that the witch had tried to throw a fireball and nothing happened, Charming decided to just jump her and go for the box. 

Regina failed to notice Prince Charming until it was too late, the two of them on the floor trying to keep each other from getting to their weapons. She had felt his dagger near his hip, and with a slow kick, had thrown it away. Although she had been trained during her whole life to be a Queen, she was also capable of wielding a sword and hand to hand combat. Trying to separate herself from him so that she could reach for her own concealed dagger, Regina felt strong arms grabbing her from behind: There were too many of them, and without magic to aid her, she was a mere woman fighting 50 armed men. Knowing that the battle was lost, Regina stopped fighting her captors and felt how they lowered her to the ground. Raising her eyes, she saw Prince Charming grabbing her black box and opening it, clearly disgusted at the sight of the heart inside of it.

The moment Charming opened the chest he knew what he had to do with the heart inside of it. In order to stop the Evil Queen, for once and for all, he had to crush the heart of the person she loved most and prevent her from throwing it inside the flames. Since the scroll used to cast the Curse had already been used, and without another love in her life, he knew that the Evil Queen's reign would be over. Not truly considering that he was killing another human being but in fact saving the life of his family and kingdom, he took the heart in his hands and started to squeeze. The moment he did, he heard a scream come from the woman on the ground.

"No!" Regina screamed, knowing what Prince Charming was attempting to do.

"This heart belongs to the last person you love most." Charming said solemnly. "And without the heart of the thing you love most you will not be able to cast the Curse."

"Please don't." Regina begged. "It's my father's heart."

"Should have thought about that before you took it out of his chest." he replied without a pause. "I will protect my family from you." he finished and crushed the heart completely.

Regina saw his father's heart become dust and felt her soul shatter in a million pieces. All those years of learning magic, of paying the price of such darkness, had been for nothing because Snow White was getting her happy ending and she was not. She felt the tears fall from her eyes, slowly realizing that it was all over because she had lost and there was nothing left for her to fight for. Looking at Prince Charming's face she saw relief go through his features, content with having ended the imminent threat that she was towards his family. Resigning herself to what they would do to her, which would probably be to sentence her to death, Regina waited for his verdict, one that never came because the Blue Fairy appeared to him.

"Your Majesty." The fairy said to the man who immediately asked her for an update of his wife's status. "You need to make way towards the palace. Your child is near."

Charming smiled brightly, for a few seconds forgetting where he was and what he had just done. "Bring me my horse." he yelled to one of the men and then looked at the Evil Queen. "Your crimes against my wife and I would be the equivalent of treason and hence death." he told the woman who merely acknowledged him. "Which will probably be sentenced to you the moment we reach the White Kingdom."

"Your Majesty." one of his men came with his horse. "Your horse is ready."

"Since we will have to take you in a magically bound carriage, you will be escorted by my men. The Blue Fairy will be in charge of your transportation and of bounding your magic." he addressed Blue who nodded in agreement.

Without another word Prince Charming left, desperate to tell his wife of their success and ready to meet his child. Had he been more careful, he would have realized that there was something amiss with the fairy who started to approach the defeated woman. After pointing her wand towards Regina, the Evil Queen felt the shackles on her wrists loosen up. Surprised, she looked up towards the fairy, whom had already released a spell that left all the men in a complete state of slumber. Rising from the ground, Regina moved forwards to where the fairy stood, the pixie woman having changed her shape to human size.

"I do not understand." she said firmly. "Why are you going against Prince baby eyes' orders?"

"It is not because of you, Evil Queen." the Blue Fairy simply said. "As you are aware, we fairies work for Fate. Although it is true that we help humans and that we may aid different people according to our personal preferences, when a direct order comes from Fate we must follow it."

"So it took Fate more than a decade to finally do something to help me?" Regina asked sarcastically. "I have nothing left. I have no desire to live in a place that has nothing to offer me but sorrow."

"Well, your Majesty, that's too bad because it seems that Fate has a different plan for you." the Blue Fairy told the woman while moving her wand and transporting the two of them away from the Dark Forest and slumbering men. These men, who would awake hours later, would then tell their King and Queen that after attempting to escape, the Evil Queen had been slain on sight.

SQ-SQ-SQ-SQ-SQ

Meanwhile, inside a dirty and cold prison cell, a man with golden skin and crazy eyes was patiently waiting for the dark cloud of his curse to finally hit the White castle. He had made the necessary preparations for his future success and now he only needed Regina to fulfill her part, her destiny that he had dedicated decades to mold in his favor. Nevertheless, as the hours went by he felt that something was amiss, his power of sight not allowing him to see the future for some strange reason. He started to grow concerned by this, and when one of the guards came running to one of the stations screaming about the Evil Queen's demise he felt his whole world shatter. His plan, his perfect plan that took him centuries to prepare, had failed. Not only that, but the life of his apprentice had been lost in the process, which meant that he now had no one to cast his curse. Calling forth his abilities as a seer, he tried to take a glimpse at the future, of when he would be able to see his son again. During the previous hours he had been able to estimate that he would find Bae in a matter of two more years in a far away and strange land. But now, now he was unable to see it, complete darkness blocking any sight of a clue of what his future would be like. Madly moving around the cell and trying to make his way out of it, it took him a while to realize that he given up his magic in hope of traveling to another realm. Still, when he remembered about the squid ink scroll that he had hidden inside the rocks for the Savior in some far away future, he decided that he needed it now more than her. Slowly blowing the letters of the paper over the bars, he saw them disappear from sight. Smiling he made his way to the guards and moved his hand, a sleeping spell easy enough to give him enough time to escape. After one last look at his cell, he angrily shook his fingers and disappeared, already thinking about a way to travel to another realm. No matter how, he would find the way to see his son again.

**The White Kingdom, 18 years later.**

_Freedom, finally freedom_ , was what Emma thought while riding her steed. It had been during one of her history lessons when Emma had started to feel that strange pull inside of her heart. Not uncommon to having it, the Princess usually ignored the uncomfortable sensation, but today she simply could not. It almost felt as if someone was trying to get her attention, trying to get her away from the four walls that she had stopped calling home. With the burden of being looked up to by a whole kingdom, the moment Princess Emma was born everyone rejoiced. Not only were they celebrating the birth of the princess, but they were also celebrating the end of the Evil Queen. Because of this, and for other reasons that Emma did not understand, she had always felt curious about the story of her mother's stepmother. Everyone knew the tale of Snow White's time as a bandit but no one really knew the story of the Evil Queen. No one knew how she learned magic, how she went from being a sweet young woman to a villainous queen and no one seemed to care. That had always left Emma unsettled, how quick the 'good people' were at judging the misdeeds of others by claiming it to be justice.

Another fact that had made Emma realize that the Evil Queen's evilness was not all true was when she started to see her own parents do the same acts. Becoming King and Queen of the largest kingdom had certainly transformed the Snow White and Prince Charming that all peasants looked up to during the Dark Kingdom's era. Not only that, but now the same citizens that had previously devoted themselves to her mother's reign were now terrified of the woman. Unlike her stepmother, who had been seen as a terrifying leader that no one wanted to antagonize, Snow White had been on the receiving end of multiple invasion attempts since she reclaimed the crown. These wars took their toll on the White Kingdom, and soon enough they had been declared in complete bankruptcy. With no money they were not able to feed the soldiers and give them equipment, and without soldiers it was just a matter of time until someone decided to invade them.

Emma had been hunting near the edges of the forest, an activity that her father and she had shared from a very tender age. She enjoyed the tranquility of the trees, the serenity of the rivers and the soft murmurs of the leaves. Bending down in a hunting position, Emma prepared her bow, her sight on a small rabbit incentive enough to let go of her arrow. Nevertheless, she heard a twig crack behind her, and in a swift movement she turned around and pointed it towards the unknown intruder.

"Emma." she saw her godmother Red come from behind the bushes and Emma lowered her bow.

"Red!" Emma scolded her. "Do not that again! Do you have any idea how close I was to just releasing my arrow?"

Red smirked. "Apologies, your Highness, but your parents sent me to fetch you."

"Do you know why they require my presence?" Emma interrogated her mother's best friend. She had seen the way her parents were acting around her, having secret conversations behind closed doors where she could hear her name spill from their mouths.

"I have no idea." the wolf-woman said honestly. She had also noticed her best friend's behavior, and knowing that they were on the brink of another invasion, she suspected that Emma was the solution.

"But you suspect something." the princess told her knowingly. "Do not even try to deny it because I can know when someone is lying."

"I do not want to make a claim and then find that it was incorrect." Red stalled.

"And yet I am asking you to do so." Emma retorted. "As your princess I'm asking you." the blonde hated to use her status on her godmother, but she truly wanted to know.

"As you wish your Highness." the wolf-woman had to obey. "I believe your parents will discuss with you the attempts at solving their war problems."

"And why would they want to discuss that with me?" Emma scrunched her nose. "I have no helpful input."

"I believe that they want you to help in another way." Red whispered but Emma still caught what the woman said.

"They want to marry me off." she whispered.

"Based on the fact that there are not many other options, I believe that is why they are summoning you to the castle."

"And let me guess, there are special guests already waiting for me?"

"You would be correct. A prince Killian from the Underwater Kingdom."

"So he is a merman?" Emma asked intrigued. "Why would my parents want an alliance with them?"

"They have resources that can match King Midas and King George's armies, apart from an immense amount of wealth that would repair damages done to the land." Red said bitterly. "I am sorry Emma."

"It is not your fault." Emma whispered. "It is not you the one that is selling their daughter in order to get some gold and men."

The two women fell into an uncomfortable silence, neither wanting to talk more about the decision that the King and Queen had reached. Emma's outside demeanor seemed to be peaceful, but inside she was screaming, breaking and crying. It was not fair to have heard so many tales of the wonders of True Love and finding your True Love to then not being able to experience it herself. It made her parents' story and ideals be so hypocrite and false that Emma wanted to simply let loose her pent-up anger and explode.

When they finally reached the castle the princess noticed that there were two carriages outside the gates, two carriages with the shape of a shell. Seriously, was it necessary for them to make such a parade?

Slowly moving inside the castle, Emma refused to make any attempt to please her parents or the strangers that had just arrived. On her way there, she had made up her mind, deciding that if her parents refused to let her decide who to love then that would be the last day she remained a princess of the White Kingdom. Too much of her life she had already given away to the whims of her parents and subjects. She was not going to give them her body and free will too.

"Emma." she heard her mother's voice come from behind her.

Turning around she saw her mother's disapproving look go from her clothes to the other side of the room where she assumed they were waiting for her.

"What are you doing dressed like this? Go change immediately." Snow White ordered her.

"Why should I?" I was not told that we would have visitors." Emma replied tensely.

"You should because I am the Queen and I am telling you to." her mother replied.

Emma hated when her parents used royal titles to order her around. "They are your visitors, not mine, hence I am not required to be there, mother." she tried again.

"I can assure you that your alliance with our kingdom will be beneficial to all." she heard an accented voice say from the room. "And based on what we have heard, your daughter is a real beauty."

Emma stared at her mother coldly. "So I guess this is why you require my presence."

"We have no other choice Emma. If we do not receive the help of the Underwater Kingdom then we will lose everything." her mother pleaded.

"And you are willing to send me away, your only daughter whom you claim to love unconditionally, as a down payment?" she spat angrily. "When you two are the proclaimers of True Love you deny this to your own blood?"

"You can learn to love Killian." Snow White tried to calm her daughter, not wanting to make a scene in front of her subjects.

"I refuse to keep being a pawn to your greedy desires."

"Greedy desires?! This is your home Emma, your future! And you will let someone else take it?" her mother screamed, forgetting about the people around them.

"If marriage is the solution then why don't you do it? Oh, that's right, you are too selfish to even consider it. Or why not give them a piece of our land, or a payment promise?" the princess raised her voice too. "You took the Evil Queen's kingdom and ended up becoming worse than her." she yelled and felt a hand smack her cheek.

Surprised she saw her mother angrily fuming at her, that along with the shocked looks of the people that were in the room.

Smirking Emma curtsied.

"Until later mother." she said and left the older woman without a care.

On her way to her room, Emma saw her father in deep conversation with the man who she assumed was Prince Killian. He was not bad looking, that was a reality, but then again she felt nothing for him. Hell, she didn't even know him. Not only that, but she didn't want to get married. She wanted to have adventures, explore the land and face the dangers that usually came with such actions.

Before she could exit the hall she noticed her dad staring at her and then excusing himself from the younger man.

"Emma." he said apologetically while walking with her. "Please be reasonable."

"I am being reasonable. Reasonable enough to realize how hypocritical you both are."

"This is our home Emma and we have to keep it safe."

"Don't you mean keep it to yourselves?" Emma spat. "If you are going to talk to me at least do not insult me with lies, father."

Charming recoiled from her daughter's harsh tone, and deciding to remain firm on their decision, he looked at her in defiance. "You, Emma White, will marry Prince Killian. That is an order of your King and Queen."

Emma stared at the man in complete shock. Who was he and what had he done with the man who took her hunting and taught her how to use a sword? Power and greed had transformed her parents to these persons that she simply did not recognize anymore. Knowing what she needed to do in under to keep her freedom, she again curtsied and spat angrily.

"When will I leave?"

"Tomorrow morning." her father responded.

"Then excuse me, but I would like to remain in my room until my departure."

"Don't you wish to meet Prince Killian?" her father asked, satisfied with her daughter's acceptance. He knew that soon enough she would see reason and realize that this was the best thing to do.

"Not really for I simply give a damn." Emma replied bluntly. "Now, I don't want to see anyone for the remainder of the day, if that is ok with you, your Majesty." she spat at him and turned around.

Running towards her room, Emma took her clothes out and set them away, quickly taking out all of the pairs that she had inside her closets. Putting everything inside a bag, Emma took her jewelry and any important object that could be sold for food and shelter and set it all at the bottom of the bag, hoping that way to stop thieves from attacking her. As promised, no one came to her room for the remainder of the morning, which gave Emma enough time to plan her escape. She decided that the best time to leave was in the afternoon since the guard shift occurred during this time and they usually loosened up and moved positions. Opening her window, Emma quickly checked from side to side, and after seeing that there were no guards on sight, she took some of the blankets and tied them together, hoping that it would hold her weight at the moment of going down from the window. In a fast pace, the princess grabbed the blankets and started her descent, hoping that no one saw her exiting the castle.

After what seemed like hours, Emma finally felt her feet touch the ground and started to make her way towards the stables. If there was one thing she was refusing to leave behind was her horse, Bug. Unfortunately, the stable man was grooming the other horses. Knowing that he was going to be completely unaware of her intentions, Emma calmly entered the stable and made her way towards Bug, earning the attention of the man.

"Your Highness." he bowed. "What may I do for you?"

'I came here to take Bug for a walk." she said calmly. "Could you prepare him quickly since I promised my parents to dine with them?"

"Of course." the man said and immediately went to get all the equipment.

While the man prepared her horse, Emma was reviewing her plan. She knew that she would be at risk of being found the longer she stayed on the White Kingdom, which meant that the sooner she left her parents territory the sooner she would be safe. Her best option right now was to make her way towards the Dark Forest, hoping that the stories that had arisen around the forest would keep the royal guards and other unwanted people from going inside.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the stable man.

"He is ready your Highness." the man told her and Emma thanked him.

 _Let's hope you don't get killed because of me,_ she murmured but he did not hear her.

With her bag firmly placed on her back and Bug ready to go, Emma turned around and gave one last look at the White Kingdom's castle. She had good memories, good experiences of having lived there. But now, now the only thing she wanted to do was run away, for she refused to let her parents tell her who to love. The road to the Dark Forest was going to be long, it being approximately three days away from here on horse. _Well, better start now than never,_ Emma smirked and set her horse to gallop away from her parent's prison and lies.


	3. White Men and Dark Rooms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being saved by the Blue Fairy, Regina wakes up to find herself in a timeless realm, faced with a council headed by Fate itself, whom have decided to give her a second chance were she to pass their test.

**In the Confines of Purgatory**

The never ending darkness had been a part of Regina Mills' life since the moment the Blue Fairy transported the two of them away from the Dark Forest and from the failure of her Curse. Everywhere she turned she saw complete nothingness, her other senses on overload because of this phenomenon. She had no idea of where she was, how long it had been since she was there or how she got there, but the one thing she did know was why. Regina had felt that her life was going to change forever the moment she found herself completely alone in a never ending darkness. Without any more cards to play and in clear dependence of the person responsible for influencing the Blue Fairy to not give her away to the Charmings, the only thing that Regina could do was wait. She was not sure of how long she did wait, but at the least expected moment the brunette woman found herself in a white room filled with chairs around her. More interesting was the fact that in those chairs there were men, or what she assumed were men: Their eyes had no irises, which gave them a somber aspect. Not only that, but they were completely bald and devoid of any specific physical trait that could differentiate one from the other.

Gasping softly, Regina realized that she was truly terrified of them because of their lack of individual identity. It had been a long time since she had felt fear, and it had come in the shape of her mother, demoted to another realm thanks to Rumplestiltskin many years ago.

"Do you know why you are here, Regina Mills?" the man in the center chair asked her.

"No." she murmured. "And it is your Majesty. I did not spend almost 10 years of my life married to Leopold so that my title could get revoked so easily."

"Do you know who we are?" the man asked and she saw that he was amused.

"You are Fate." she determined. "Only you would want to save me after everything I have done, although I would have appreciated the help earlier."

Another man chuckled.

"That dark sense of humor has always been endearing. But you are correct, we are Fate, keepers and watchers of all the realms and all realities."

"Fate hardly intervenes in human matters." Regina told them. "All magical wielders are taught this at the beginning of their training."

"And you are correct." the man agreed with her. "But Fate does not like it when a human meddles with their plans and destroys the structure already planned."

"And me successfully casting my Curse would have done that?" she asked sarcastically.

"Your Curse was not created to benefit you. It was created in order to aid Rumplestiltskin in his search of his long lost son. A fact that we, as Fate, cannot allow to happen for it is a punishment for his numerous selfish acts." a third man answered her. "We have had enough of Rumplestiltskin's attempts at violating the balance of things for his own personal gain."

Regina simply listened, too stunned to try to argue with the men. She had known that by casting the curse created by Rumpelstiltskin the man would gain something from it. But, what she didn't know was that she had been manipulated into giving her soul and father's heart to aid a man who didn't love anyone (reason why he was unable to cast the curse to begin with) and was only working for himself.

"I assume then that this is not the first time that Rumplestiltskin has manipulated my life in order to achieve his own goals." Regina whispered.

"Sadly it is not." the first man replied after a short pause. "The path that Rumplestiltskin created for you started way before your existence as a result of your mother and her greed. Her incapacity to love you, along with the influence that magic had in your life, gave way for him to appear during your most vulnerable time. After that, by conspiring with many other individuals, he shaped and molded you into the way he needed you to be: Alone and desperate." 

Regina should have felt anger at having been controlled during her whole life. She should have felt betrayal towards the people that had failed to protect her, and thirst for revenge towards the damn imp. But shockingly, the only thing that she wanted now was to lay in bed and never get up. She had no motive to live, no true reason to try to gain her happiness and no one to share it with. In this world she had angered many people tremendously and she knew that none of them would grant her forgiveness.

It was too much to ask of them anyway.

"We can hear your thoughts Regina, we can feel your sorrow."

"Then you know that I have no further reason to live. I have lost everything."

"And how do you know that?" the second man asked softly. "Isn't Fate capable of seeing the future?"

"You want me to ask you about my future?" Regina whispered, clearly surprised.

"We will allow you one question, any kind of question, and we will answer it. After you hear this answer you will have to choose between staying here and paying the consequences of your sins or you will be set on an eternal slumber."

"Fate getting directly involved in human matters?" Regina asked. "And deciding to give me another chance?" she smirked. "I have learned that nothing comes for free. So what would be your price?"

The men in the room laughed, making the former Queen flinch in fear. She felt out of her depth with these people that knew everything about her and yet she knew almost nothing about them.

"By helping you we help ourselves." the first man told her. "And the price you pay will be for your own gain. We want you to succeed, Regina."

"Why do a sense that there is a 'but' coming with that statement?"

"But as you previously said, Fate does not usually intervene in human matters, nor does it give second chances. Although unheard of, we have given this opportunity to other individuals as yourself."

"Individuals as myself?"

"Individuals that were meant to be on the path of goodness but unfairly lost their way. They were brought here to face us, as you are doing right now, and got asked the same question. All of them said yes, wanting to pay for their sins and begin anew." the second man told her somberly.

"If it is such a good thing, why are you so gloom and adamant about the danger?" Regina asked but then realized that she didn't need an answer. She already knew. "None made it, am I right?"

The men looked at each and nodded.

"The price, although your own, can destroy the most resilient soul with easiness. That is the reason the person earns Fate's forgiveness."

"And you still expect me to accept your proposition after learning all of this?"

"As we told you, you can answer us any question and we will answer it. What you decide to do afterwards it's up to you." the first man smiled. 

"Ok." Regina said and concentrated on her question. It didn't take her too long to realize what she truly wanted to know. "Will I ever find happiness?"

The man smiled warmly at her and nodded.

"Your destiny Regina, although it seems unbelievable at this moment, _is_ to be happy. Have faith in Fate."

Regina nodded and raised her eyes so they could look at the ones of the older man. The moment she heard his answer she knew what she would choose. "It seems that I am a masochist because I seem to never learn from my mistakes." she smiled softly in resignation. "When do we begin?"

"Before we begin, we have to warn you." the third man warned her again. "What you will go through, in the edge of darkness, will not be easy. Although you were manipulated, your sins were your own and many were hurt as a result of them. The price to pay for such violence will be a high one."

Regina gulped, but still remained determined. She had always been a fighter, although not always for the right causes. "I understand. My decision remains."

"Good." the man nodded. "In that case, you will face three rings of cleansing. Each one will come with its own tribulations and tests to pass. Only the moment your soul is cleansed will you be able to move forward. Once you complete the three rings your soul and body will return to the living, allowing you to continue with your life." 

"They will never love me. To them I will always be the Evil Queen." Regina murmured.

"And yet here you are accepting the prize Fate has asked you to pay." the first man's voice softened. "Trust in Fate, it will reward you in the way your heart has been craving most."

"Ok." the woman whispered.

The moment Regina mumbled those words she felt the ground under her feet disappear, making her fall into an endless pit that was only highlighted by the diminishing light that remained from the white room. The further down she went, the less she saw, until she found herself back in the black room. Not knowing what to expect, and if she should feel immediate pain, Regina was left to her own devices. The loneliness and silence filled her mind and allowed her to reflect on her past actions, on how easy it had been for her shattered heart to turn to hate. It still hurt her to remember the young girl she had been, how naive and innocent her heart was and how easily it had been destroyed. She had swore to herself that she would never become her mother, that she would never use magic in such a way.

Yet, she had been far worse.

She had not only become her mother, but she had surpassed her darkness. Realizing this made Regina gag in disgust, and without any food in her system (somehow she had no need for food or water or any other human necessities), she simply gagged for what seemed an eternal amount of minutes. Memories of her time with Daniel came to her mind, stolen kisses under the trees and hidden smiles making her heart ache longingly. She had simply wanted to feel and be loved, to live the life her father spoke off in hidden conversations and to decide how she wanted to live it and not the way her mother wanted her to. The price of that insubordination, of course, had been the love of her life. Such a sweet and innocent man that had been a victim of her and her mother's selfishness. Although that selfishness came from different feelings, the fact that the two of them had wanted something from the man was not lost on her: She had wanted his love while her mother had wanted him out of her life.

Life, was the word that seemed to activate the rings, since soft pinches started to press on her body. More uncomfortable than actually painful, Regina started to feel a strange buzzing near her heart. Not understanding what was going on, she quickly used her hands to check her body, trying to see any signs of physical injuries. The moment she touched her arm she felt fire under her skin, slowly burning her way up towards her extremities. She had felt pain before, during her time with her mother, and she had felt how different magic could make physical injuries feel like. Still, the pain she was feeling right now was like nothing she had ever experienced: It was not a pain that injured her body, but it was one that was tearing her soul apart. It seemed that it was opening her heart and simply pulling out all. Losing strength, Regina felt her knees give up on her and she collapsed on the floor, unable to scream and yet doing so internally. Her mind could think of nothing else but pain, in all parts of her and at the same time. What kind of magic could do this? To be able to make her lose all capability of thought and movement was terrifying. She had not felt like this since she learned magic, and to remember the weakness that came from such a position only made everything hurt more. She was vulnerable, even the softest movement made her feel a new unbearable ache that was added to the previous ones. She couldn't remember how long it lasted, to feel such tremendous amount of pain without a reason or motive, but the moment some of the pain went away she saw a door appear.

_This must mean that I passed the first ring,_ Regina thought to herself and crawled to the door. She knew that she was not going to be able to stand, and instead of wasting energy on that, she decided to use it on her arms.

It was a slow and tedious walk, but the moment she went through the door she felt some of the pain disappear. It was enough to let her think of something other than the pain, which seemed too much of a coincidence. Knowing that it was all set-up so she would fail and die, Regina heard whispers that started to come from the darkness, voices that claimed for her death in thirst of revenge. Panicking, she started to move away from where she was standing, attempting to run away from the shadows that had started to move forward, slowly taking the shape of many individuals that she did not know. Unlike the men from the white room, these people had faces and facial features that validated their humanity. All of them were adults, terrifying adults with empty stares that chanted her name and asked for her head. Realizing that she was watching the people she killed during her time as the Evil Queen, Regina gulped and saw how her feet were stuck on the dark ground, trapping her. She tried to free herself a few times, but accepting that this was also a part of the punishment, Regina felt each pain performed to them: Most of the times she felt an invisible hand reach inside her chest and pull her heart out. Unmercifully, the invisible hand started to squeeze, which in turn made her own chest cringe and her breath to come in painful gasps. Assuming that she was done with the pain experienced by the shadow, Regina felt relieve until another invisible hand yanked inside her chest again. It was excruciating, to relive in such a way these events and many times the woman wanted to simply let go and give up. Nevertheless, the moment she found herself opening her mouth to ask for mercy, she firmly closed it and refused to acknowledge her own weakness. Regina knew that she was many things, but a coward was not one of them. And, she never begged when it came to her life: She had accepted that she would either retain it or lose it. And, since it was her decision, she decided that she would like to keep her soul on earth and inside her body. She knew that if she really wanted to live a happy life she would have to stop reacting so negatively to the things that happened to her and accept the payment that she was now feeling as justice. Realizing that this was the only way in which Regina would find it in herself to truly let go of her past, she closed her eyes and kept receiving every pain and every sensation that damaged and healed her soul.

Almost at the point of unconsciousness, Regina saw another door appear at the other side of where she was. Smiling, she moved towards it, watching the unknown shadows dissipate and become smoke. She knew that the pain felt had given peace to the shadows, and hence to its owners. Giving these people a peaceful afterlife was the least she could do, especially after being the person responsible for them losing their life. After closing the door, Regina saw that unlike the other rooms this one was illuminated, which meant that she was capable of seeing her sustained injuries. Surprisingly she saw none, but still felt that she had them. Yes, she was feeling pain. But, at the same time her body was not physically in danger of acquiring any new injuries. It was a small relief to know that the pain was all part of her mind, yet it was scary to realize how capable Fate was of killing her. Regina's worries only seemed to increase when she saw another pair of shadows coming her way. But, unlike the ones of the other room, these ones started to become people that she knew: The young woman whose heart she took out when she was unable to bring Daniel back. She approached the woman, knowing that in order to pass this test she needed to face each shadow and make amends.

"I am sorry." Regina told her honestly. "What I did, I did it because of fear and loneliness. I had just found out that I would never be able to bring my love back to life and I was hurt. I wanted the world to hurt too and you were in the way. Please forgive me." she finished.

The woman nodded in understanding. "I would have done the same. That's why I agreed to letting Rumplestiltskin teach me magic. It was either you or me and you were more powerful." she finished and the shadow disappeared.

Exhaling in relief, Regina saw that the next person that appeared in front of her was the Huntsman whose heart she still had locked inside a box. With him she had been extremely cruel, not only making him do things against his will, but also using him sexually. She felt bile rise to her throat when she realized that she had become just like Leopold and had used her power on a weaker individual unfairly.

"You betrayed me, Huntsman." she started softly. "You protected someone that hurt me when you gave me your word that you would deliver results. Instead of not returning or simply admitting your failure, you tried to trick me. That was your wrongdoing since you promised to be loyal to me and my throne. My mistake, and what I regret the most was how I used your body for my own selfish gains. I had no right to do so, to privy you of such an elemental freedom and it specially pains me since I promised to never do to anyone what someone else had done to me. If I ever get out of here, and if it is not too late, I promise to return your heart to you." Regina finished and the shadow of the Huntsman disappeared.

Right after her knight's shadow disappeared she saw a familiar one take shape. Gasping she found herself facing her father, who was looking at her in sad contempt. How could she explain her actions to him? Or forgive him for his weakness? She took a deep breath and raised her eyes so they could see her father's. She immediately felt tears on her eyes and she realized that the man was not asking for her forgiveness because he knew that he didn't deserve it. In fact, it seemed that he had accepted his fate as a price for his cowardice years earlier.

"Oh Daddy." Regina whispered dejectedly while raising her hand and trying to touch her father's face. "Both of us were victims of our mother's selfishness." she gasped for air. "And it pains me to say this, but I cannot forgive you. I cannot forgive your weakness when all I craved was help. When you saw mother hurt me you didn't do anything to stop her. Yes, you gave me love, as a response to her hate, but it was not what I needed from you. I needed saving, I needed a knight in shiny armor and you were never that." the brunette started to cry. "But I am sorry for not thinking you were enough. I'm sorry for my own selfishness when casting the Curse and having sacrificed your life for nothing." she whimpered and gave her father one last look. "I _will always_ love you Daddy, and if I get my second chance it will still be thanks to you." she finished and the man's shadow turned to nothingness.

It had only been three shadows and Regina already felt exhausted. Perhaps it was because of her previous endeavors, but with each new talk she felt herself getting weaker and weaker. By the time Regina reached her darkest times she could barely stand up. When she felt a presence in front of her, she raised her head and saw Leopold, whom she still had no regret in killing because of his hidden true self. Disgusted by the sight of the man, she refused to let him see her in a position of weakness. Standing up and wobbling until she balanced herself, Regina refused to acknowledge him.

"Regina." the man said and this made the woman look at him. This was the first time a shadow spoke before being spoken to. "I forgive you."

"You forgive me?" she spat angrily. "You forgive me?!" she laughed. "I should be the one granting you forgiveness after all the things you put me through."

"I was the King and you were my Queen. You had a duty to perform."

"You were an old man and I was a mere child!" she screamed at him. "I was 16 when you first bedded me and knew nothing about sex or what happened when one got married. I was merely 6 years older than your own daughter and still you came to my room every night."

"We were married." the man whispered.

"You raped me!" Regina started crying. "You bought me from my mother and after having your way with me every night demanded of me to hide my pain away to raise your petulant and selfish child. I was not a queen, I was a prisoner."

"I didn't know." the old King said dejectedly.

"Yes you did." Regina kept on crying. "I begged you to let me go, to let me leave. I even promised you to raise your daughter as if she were my own if you stopped coming to my room. Did you know that during the course of our married life I had 4 miscarriages?"

"But I thought you were barren."

"The deficient one was you, your Majesty." she spat at him. "Snow White's conception and birth was a miracle that the doctors assumed came from the fact that you were a young man when you impregnated your wife."

"Why did no one tell me?" he asked sadly.

"Because you were the King. The blame could never be yours. It had to be mine."

"So you can conceive then. You can be a mother."

"Not anymore." Regina whispered. "But I will never apologize to you. Am I sorry I left a child fatherless? Yes, I am. Am I sorry that you were the father? No. Did I directly murder you? No. Did I influence the Genie from doing so? Yes. Am I sorry I did this? I am."

"Unless I grant you my forgiveness you will not be able to move forward."

"I do not need your forgiveness. You deserved what happened to you and I will not apologize for it. The people that deserve my apology are the ones I manipulated in order to keep my hands clean."

"You left a child fatherless!" he screamed.

"And you left a mother childless!" she answered back. "And for that reason here we are."

"You Regina, cannot change. You will always have darkness inside your heart, demanding to be set free and destroy everything in its way."

"I am aware of that and I will never say that I am all good." she told him. "But I choose my own destiny, and staying here with you is not what I want. I will finally be free." she screamed and the shadow of Leopold dissolved, making Regina take one last breath and collapse on the floor.


	4. New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Princess Emma finds herself running away from the guards of the White Kingdom, realizing from up-close how unhappy the people are with the way Snow White and Prince Charming have run their kingdom.

**At the Edge of the White Kingdom**

Princess Emma Swan was riding her horse as fast as possible. She had been on the run for the last week, and although she had been able to avoid gaining the attention of the people from the towns, she still saw royal guards stopping and questioning them. For some reason the guards were close on her tail, and after switching destinations and making final decisions on the spur of the moment, she still found herself being closely followed. Emma did not understand why this was happening, and it annoyed her tremendously to only be able to remain one day in a town. Bug was getting tired, and she was afraid that soon the horse would lose a shoe, which meant that she would have to stay an extra day in town.

Emma was upset at her parents for wasting resources on her, especially because this trip allowed her to see the reality that the peasants lived in her parents' kingdom: Most of them lived in terrible conditions, barely having enough to feed themselves. The tax collectors came daily and refused to leave empty handed, and when someone was unable to pay, the person was sent to the dungeons to await for trial. It made her blood boil to see these people suffering while her family and the rest of the royals were busy stuffing themselves with unnecessary riches. So, it did not surprise her to see that her parents' kingdom was broke, considering their poor investment techniques and extravagant expenses. But, as it usually was with societies, the people that paid for the mistakes of the top were the ones at the bottom of the pyramid. These people were the ones that Emma was starting to get to know; the peasants that met in taverns late at night and discussed their sorrows over a cup of beer. In fact, Emma had unconsciously become one of them, since she usually remained quiet on one corner while nursing a glass in her hand.

Today's comments, as they tended to be any other day, went from insulting her parents (this was an usual thing) to the unnecessary presence of the guards at their town and how much the kingdom had deteriorated under the White royal line.

"You know, although she was severe with her punishments and obsessed with capturing Snow White, the Evil Queen was a good ruler." a man had said.

"She was evil!" a woman shrieked. "How can you even say something like that?"

"She was a Queen. She ruled and she kept the people of her kingdom, those who did not involve themselves with Snow White, fed and satisfied." the man replied firmly. "Tell me Maureen, when was the last time you ate a piece of meat?"

Maureen looked down, unable to quickly think of an answer.

"I remember." the same man said while earning the attention of more people. "It was during the Evil Queen's reign. Unlike the Whites', she did not spend our money on chasing runaway princesses and holding balls for foreign kingdoms. The Evil Queen got her own hands dirty."

"Princess Emma was kidnapped." a man from the other side of the bar said.

"Don't be fooled Tommy." the man kept on rambling. "That girl decided to run before her parents sold her like a piece of steak to the highest bidder. Or do you think that the Underwater Kingdom just came for the scenery?" he smirked.

"And you keep your mouth shut before someone who matters hears you old man." Tommy told the man who simply laughed. "Or do you not care about your life?"

"I do not care about this kingdom or their rulers. I was once faithful to a tough but fair ruler. As it usually happens with humans, she had her flaws, but leaving her people abandoned and starving to death was not one of them." he raised two fingers and placed them on his chest where his heart was. "Long live the Evil Queen."

The moment the man did the sign Emma saw a group of men in white uniforms stand up and make their way towards the older man. Smirking to himself, he simply continued drinking his beer while the guards forced him to turn around and face them.

"Admitting allegiance to the Evil Queen is considered treason. The punishment for treason is death. Do you accept this sentence?" one guard told him.

The older man smiled. And while bending down in a submissive stand he quickly used his shoulder to hit one of the white guard's kneecaps. Howling in pain because of the contact, the guard's hold on the man loosened up, which then gave him enough leverage to raise his leg and hit the second guard on his balls. Wincing in consideration, Emma smiled when the older man stood up and finished his beer, amused at having bested the royal guards so easily. When they finally came to their bearings, the guards angrily stood up and ran towards him, and Emma, who had been sitting a few chairs behind him, couldn't help herself and moved her foot so the guards would collide and fall to the floor. Winking at the older man who nodded in recognition, Emma quickly paid for her drink and started to head out of the tavern only to be stopped by those two guards. Scolding herself for entering such a vulnerable position, Emma saw Bug a few meters away from her, calmly waiting for her return. She knew she had to distract the men for long enough so her horse would come close enough.

"Can I help you with something?" she said while avoiding their gaze.

"You aided that man. Is your allegiance also with the Evil Queen?" the guard said angrily while grabbing her hood and lowering it, making it obvious that it was her the one underneath it.

"Princess Emma!" the guard said and immediately grabbed her arm. "We thought you were dead."

Emma simply shrugged. "I thought I would be too, but thanks to you I am finally safe. I merely stopped you from going after that man because he was my captor. It seems that your bravery spooked him." she gagged at the fake compliments.

Bug was getting closer.

"Only the best for her Highness." the second guard said proudly. "Your parents will be so relieved when we tell them we found you."

"And I will make sure you are handsomely rewarded for your bravery." Emma smiled and then saw Bug pass right in front of them.

Making a quick run, she jumped on top of the horse and turned around to see the surprised looks of her two captors.

Smirking, Emma made Bug go into a gallop, wanting to set the most possible space between the royal guards and herself. She smiled, relieved at having escaped that close encounter with her captors and at the same time scolding herself for her carelessness. She had to remember that she was not a peasant but merely a runaway royal amongst them. She hoped the old man was smart enough to get away from town, especially since she had basically accused him of kidnapping a royal. Distracted, Emma failed to see that Bug was whining in warning, and before she could do a thing she found herself on the floor after her horse had stopped so abruptly. The fall had hurt like a bitch, and for sure that was going to leave her some bruises. But, what scared her the most was the whimper that came from Bug. Quickly standing up, she went to where her horse was lying down and saw that one of the shoes had come loose.

Emma exhaled: She had no town or stable in sight, and based on what had happened a few hours ago, she had royal guards tailing her. And, to further complicate things for her, her horse had stopped so abruptly because she almost went over a woman. Terrified of her recklessness and nervous about her imminent doom, Emma faced her almost victim and was ready to sputter quick apologies and a possible compensation for the incident. But, what she did instead was dumbly stare: The woman in front was exquisite. Soft olive skin highlighted by dark large hair; she was a sight for sore eyes. Not dressed expensively, but also nice enough to be placed in the middle class, Emma saw light brown eyes stare angrily at her, clearly waiting for her to say something. But how could she when faced with such perfection? Emma had not been raised on ideas that established men were destined for women and vice-versa. She had been raised to appreciate beauty, no matter the form and shape it took. At least that she could thank her parents for.

"Well, are you going to say something or simply stare at me?" the woman simply grew tired of the awkward silence.

Emma gulped and shook her head.

"I am so sorry." she apologized. "I was distracted, in a hurry, and failed to see you."

"That is obvious." the woman's tone made Emma smirk.

"If it wasn't for Bug you would have been made puree."

The woman nodded and approached her horse.

"I guess I should be thanking him for his service." she caressed the horse. "He seems to have lost a shoe."

"Yeah." Emma whispered. "It was getting loose before I left the other town and it seems that it finally fell because of the abrupt stop. Do you know if there is a town nearby?"

The woman shook her head.

"Closest one is half a day on horse, I am afraid."

"Then I guess the sooner I start to move the better chance I have of making it before nightfall." Emma shrugged and made way. "Thank you and again I am very sorry." the blonde started to put her hands inside her pockets so she could give some coins to the woman but a big noise stopped her. She knew the sound of that trumpet very well, and based on the other woman's face she also recognized it.

**In The Confines of Purgatory**

When Regina opened her eyes again she saw a door standing closely to her. Whimpering because of the pain, she softly stood up and entered the room, tired and desperate to be done with everything no matter the result. The moment she did, Regina saw everything change in front of her, and with a small gasp she found herself on her parents' stable. Knowing what she was going to be forced to see, Regina started to softly cry in resignation at reliving all of her pain. As expected, Daniel entered the stable and her heart started beating quickly, followed by a younger version of herself. She could hear their soft voices and promises made to each other as if they were being said to her. Gasping at the moment she felt her mother's dark magic, Regina tried to stand between her mother and the man she had loved so much. She tried to make a sign to her younger self, tried to warn her about her mother's intention but it was all useless: Daniel's fate had been to die.

"Love is weakness Regina." Regina could hear her mother's speech. "It feels real right now, at the start it always does. But it's an illusion, it fades and then you are left with nothing. But power, true power endures. And then you don't have to rely on anyone to get what you want. I've saved you my love."

"You ruined everything!" Regina screamed. "I loved him! I loved him!"

"Enough! I've endured this long enough! Now clean yourself up. Wipe away your tears because now...Now you will be Queen." her mother scolded her and took her away from her lover's body.

Closing her eyes, Regina refused to see Daniel's empty eyes. It had been painful to watch what had happened without being able to do anything about it. Especially now that she knew she had the power to stop her mother she was still left to simply stare and let things carry on. A bright light forced her to open her eyes after it dimmed, and again she felt her body succumb to the tiredness it had been feeling since this whole thing started.

Not only was she in another painful memory, but she was outside, running in an attempt to catch a very distraught young Snow White from telling The King her secret.

"Love doesn't work that way." her younger self whispered lovingly. "Love, true love, is magic. Not just any magic, the most powerful magic of all. It creates happiness." she saw herself smile warmly. It had been really long since she showed such an innocent and warm smile.

"And that man in the stables." young Snow said sadly. "You love him."

"With all my heart."

Young Snow smiled warmly at her younger self and a pang of pain went through Regina's heart. How much she had cared about that child before Daniel's death. "Then you must marry him. I will go tell father right away."

"No no no! You can't." her younger self said vehemently.

"Why not? Surely he'll understand." the innocence in such a statement made her gag.

"Perhaps, but not everyone will. My mother for one, she'll stand in the way".

"That's why you are running." the young girl finally seemed to understand.

"It's the only way our love can survive." her younger self said sadly. "Snow, do you know what a secret is?" the girl nodded. "If you really, truly want to help me..."

"I do!"

"Then what you saw, what I just told you. You must keep it a secret. Can you do that?"

"I think so." the young girl responded and older Regina scoffed at her younger self innocence. She should have known that the moment the little girl doubted herself was the moment her secret was out.

"I need you to be certain. You can never speak of this. and above all, you mustn't tell my mother. Will you do that for me?"

"Yes, I promise." young Snow promised her and hugged her younger self warmly.

Regina turned around the scene and left the two shadows dissolve in front of her. She understood why this scene was shown to her. At this moment her life changed completely, her trust on others shattered by the carelessness and ignorance of a 10 year old girl who desperately wanted a mother. Ironically, she had cared about the little girl and felt truly sad about her situation when she was making her bags later that same night.

 _W_ _hat do you want me to do with this?,_ Regina asked the men while moving from side to side.

_Do you want me to forgive Snow White? Do you want me to forget what the selfishness of that little girl cost me?_

She knew she was never going to be capable of doing that. But she could simply resign herself to the reality that what she had just seen was that, a memory of the past. There was nothing for her to do, no chance of changing fate or bringing back the dead. It had taken her almost a lifetime, but she finally accepted that her past was just that, the past.

The moment she admitted this to herself a bright light appeared, and without any struggle she felt her body moving towards it. Minutes later she found herself inside a white room, the pain that she had felt during the whole time finally numbed away. Relieved at being able to walk without wanting to throw up, Regina saw a set of clothes on top of the bed that had also magically appeared and immediately changed. Maybe because she just finished Fate's test, or because of what she had discovered while doing it, she felt lighter, freer of the burden that all her victims and guilty people had inflicted on her own heart. Regina knew that she was ready to start over, to earn her happiness again. And, for the first time in a long time she felt that she somehow deserved it because Fate had deemed her worthy enough. Nevertheless, before she was let go she heard the voices of the white men whispering one last time…

_"Go, and find your happiness, Regina Mills. You **deserve it.**_ **"**

Regina nodded and closed her eyes, taking that final step towards the door of her room and she immediately fell on the cold ground. Not knowing where she was exactly, the brunette was not quick enough to notice a horse making its way right towards her. When she finally saw it, she closed her eyes and used her magic to make it stop, that of course making the irresponsible driver fall from it.

 _Bruise well deserved for being so reckless,_ she smirked to herself until she saw the woman that had been on top of the horse.

The woman, although dressed in men's clothes, had an endearing beauty that made her hold her breath. She also noticed how the younger woman was bluntly staring at her, her gaze focused on her face and surprisingly remaining there.

 _The innocence of this woman is astounding,_ Regina thought because she could see the faint blush that adorned the blonde's face when she was asking her for directions.

Noticing the horse, she realized that the breed was a good one.

 _I_ _ndeed curious,_ she mused to herself while smiling, _to see a young woman, obviously on a hurry, with such an expensive and well bred horse._

Regina was on her way to ask the woman more questions, after seeing her desire to quickly leave her side, but before any of them could say something else, the brunette heard the distinct trumpet that identified the knights of the White Kingdom.

"They are coming for me." both women yelled at the same time.

"Wait, they are coming for you?" they asked at the same time again.

"What did you do?" Regina asked her while stretching her hand so that the blonde could also start moving away from their sight.

"I don't believe this is the best moment for story-sharing." the younger woman spat angrily. "And where are you taking us?!"

"Away from the main road of course! How do you think royal guards move around the different parts of the kingdom?" Regina scoffed in annoyance.

"But my horse!" she whimpered. "I cannot leave him!"

"I am afraid that without his shoe he is quite useless." the brunette whispered sadly. She could understand the woman's bond with her steed.

"I refuse to leave him! He has been with me since he was a pony."

"You will be captured the moment the guards see you."

"Please..." the blonde begged her. "He is the only thing I have left."

Regina turned around and hid the two of them under the bushes. Seriously, why was she risking herself so much for a woman whom she had just met?

 _I_ _am doing so because of my second chance,_ she scoffed mentally and started to count the number of guards that were standing around the girl's horse.

"Why are we waiting here? The more we wait the more guards will arrive."

"Well, unlike you Miss…" Regina asked while gazing at the taller woman. She was certainly attractive.

"Swan." the blonde responded. "Emma Swan."

"Unlike you Miss Swan, my plan is to not die at the hands of the knights of the White Kingdom."

"Ok, Miss Know it All, what do you suggest us to do?" Emma asked angrily.

"Since you asked for _my_ help, I suggest you listen to me and do as I say." Regina answered back, already annoyed at the blonde's stubbornness.

"I can do that." Emma huffed, also annoyed.

The two women stayed in complete silence for a couple of minutes, Regina assessing the situation while Emma held her tongue every time she felt herself close to saying something. She was going to show the older woman that she could follow orders and remain quiet. Of course, Emma being Emma realized that the attempt was futile. Knowing that she could gain advantage from this, the blonde smirked.

"Why are the knights of the White Kingdom chasing you?" Emma asked the brunette.

Regina thought for a while her answer. Was it better to lie or just go with the truth? She looked at Emma and saw in her eyes a spark of mischief and openness that convinced her to go with the truth. "In the past I killed people."

"Nothing too shocking, considering the fact that this is the Enchanted Forest and that one can die from like literally anything." Emma shrugged.

"That is rather tolerant of you." Regina said intrigued. "And since you asked I believe the same courtesy extends to me?" she got an affirmative nod from Emma and continued. "Why are _you_ running away from the White guards?"

"I refused to marry someone I did not love."

"For them to care it must mean that your union is of interest to the royal family."

"And that is the only thing I will tell you." Emma closed the discussion and Regina noticed the blonde's tight hold on her bag.

 _Runaway royal,_ Regina mused to herself in annoyance. _Why did I get myself involved?_

"What about you? What is your name?"

"Regina Mills at your service, your highness." she mocked the blonde and got an angry look from her. For some strange reason Regina enjoyed antagonizing this intriguing woman.

"Do not call me that! My name is Emma and we are the same."

"I'm afraid we are not." Regina told the woman while smiling in understanding. "No matter how hard you want to believe it, you will never be the same as the rest of the peasants."

"You do not know me, how can you even assume something like that without knowing me?" Emma asked angrily but at the same time quite upset.

She wanted Regina to like her.

"You are correct. I do not know you, and because of that what I may or may not think of you should be of no consequence to you." Regina merely shrugged and continued staring at the men.

"I refuse to stay here and listen to your sarcastic remarks." Emma suddenly stood up and took her sword out. "Thank you for the wonderful company, Regina Mills. It was certainly not a pleasure." she gritted out and made her way towards the guards.

"Emma no!" Regina whispered loudly and groaned in anger. _Stupid woman, going to fight 10 men all by herself._

Emma was angry. She had felt weak when she asked the older brunette for help, and after being on the receiving end of her unfair judgment, the last thing she wanted was to remain with her. Huffing and quickly standing near one of the guards, Emma turned the handle of her sword and hit the man quickly on the head. Hiding him from the rest, she used the bushes near the area and placed the stunned man inside of them.

Regina, meanwhile, had been quietly staring. She was surprised that Emma had managed to covertly get rid of most of the guard without any of them noticing it. But, as oblivious as the men could be, it was impossible for them to not notice that five of their men had vanished. The moment they did, Regina saw Emma come out from one of the bushes and attack the nearest white guard with a quick blow to his head.

 _One down, four more to go_ , the brunette muttered to herself.

Emma was on a roll. She had forgotten how much fun it was to spar and use her sword for something more than decoration. It had been easy to stun the first guards.

 _Seriously,_ the blonde scoffed loudly, _so much money is being wasted on these men and they are incapable of capturing an 18 year old?_

Then, as if called, one of the remaining 5 guards noticed her and she immediately jumped on top of him, quickly using her sword to incapacitate him. Nevertheless, the other four became aware of her presence and had now circled her. Emma had practiced enough sword-fighting to realize that her position was not a good one. She felt a quick swish on her left and her sword clashed with another one. Moving her feet in a fast pace, she started to grow weary and tired. She was not going to be able to hold the rhythm for longer, and based on the White guards' smirks they also knew it.

The moment Regina saw Emma's sword falter was the moment she decided to intervene. Although good with a sword, the task of facing 4 men with brute strength was not a battle that Emma Swan would win. Getting out of her hiding spot, Regina raised her hand and started to mutter to herself. Magic poured out of her hands and without any of the guards noticing who cast the spell, they found themselves on the floor, asleep.

Regina nodded in satisfaction at having her magic back, and after checking that the rest of the guards were out of commission, she made her way towards Emma and grabbed her forcefully.

"Were you trying to get yourself killed?!" she screamed at the blonde who was numbed. "I told you to follow my lead and instead you end up doing the complete opposite!"

"Regina, you have magic." the blonde smiled softly at her and all of the brunette's anger dissipated.

_What the hell?_

"If you want to survive you have to be smarter than this Emma." she pointed at the guards. "The best way to move around is by not bring attention to yourself."

"I know." the blonde huffed. "But I was not going to leave Bug behind."

Regina nodded understandingly.

"Well, these guards will remain asleep for a couple of hours, which gives us enough time to part ways."

"Part ways?" Emma asked softly.

Regina was going to confirm her previous statement, but something in the blonde's eyes forced her to reconsider. She knew it was stupid to get involved with a wanted royal, but at the same time she had always been stubborn.

"Well, perhaps we are going to the same place?" Regina asked instead and the blonde's face brightened.

"My final destination is the Dark Forest." Emma told her and this again intrigued the brunette.

"You are either very brave or dumb when you think that without the aid of magic you will be capable of escaping that forest." Regina teased her and the blonde laughed.

"So can't you like transport us to the Dark Forest?" Emma asked.

"I'm afraid there is an enchantment on it that prevents magic wielders from using it." Regina huffed. Before it had been a preventive measure, but now she simply found it annoying.

"Well, can you at least heal my horse?" Emma sassed and earned herself a shoulder slap from the older woman "That way we can go riding instead of walking?"

Regina huffed and with a flick of her hand Bug was on his feet and ready to move.

"You know, if you would have done this earlier we could have avoided so much drama."

"And lose the chance of fighting some knights of the White Kingdom?" Regina teased. "Besides, I did not know you. Well, I still do not know much about you."

"I understand." Emma smiled softly. "And besides, it has been so long since I have heard of a magic wielder. I actually thought they were extinct."

"Extinct?" Regina asked surprised.

"Yes, the Sorcerers' War." Emma shrugged. "It lasted 5 years and most of the magic wielders were either killed or captured."

"Why would someone do something like that?" Regina asked angrily.

"You seriously did not know about this?" Emma asked suspiciously.

"It appears I have remained far too isolated from the world." she merely responded. "In hiding." she added and the blonde accepted it as a fair excuse.

"Well, after the defeat of the Evil Queen, Royals from all the kingdoms were afraid of the power that magic wielders possessed and how they could use this power to take their kingdoms away from them. So, with all of the kingdoms joining forces, they formed one big army of humans that captured every fairy, destroyed every wand, persecuted every witch and wizard and finally destroyed all written material about the subject. Magic was prohibited in the realm and any person that was discovered to have the capability of performing magic simply disappeared." Emma finished her dark tale and saw the brunette's fear.

Regina felt tears fall from her eyes. She had grown to hate magic, but at the same time had been excited about having it and using it. She admired the magical beings that could use it for goodness, and now she just got told that all of it had been destroyed by the people that had been ironically protected by this kind of magic. Obviously, a large amount of time had passed by since her covered demise. Relieved that Emma did not suspect anything, she knew the next question she had to ask.

"How long has it been since the Evil Queen was defeated?" Regina asked nervously.

Emma looked curiously at her, and again deciding that answering her would not compromise her status she answered. "18 years, almost 19."


	5. Long Live Queen Regina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Circumstances force Regina to reveal her true identity and the result is not the one she had been expecting.

Regina Mills had always been proud of the fact that not many things could leave her speechless. In fact, apart from her recent (or based on what she had just learned from Emma not so recent) encounter with Fate, nothing could leave the Evil Queen in a state of shock: Snow White again managed to escape, that's fine. Her huntsman betrayed her in order to help the princess, fine as well. The Charmings got married and didn't invite her, their loss. And yet none of those things had accomplished what Emma's words had just done. Not only had she been in a state of limbo for the last 18 years, but she was probably one of the last remaining magic wielders in this realm. It was certainly ironic that people saw her as the Evil Queen and yet the 'good side' had committed genocide without a glimpse of regret.

Although she had always considered herself as a lone wolf (ironic, she knows), she still felt somehow connected to the rest of people inside the magic world since all of them created a balance. This had been one of the first lessons the Dark One taught her, that a magic wielder could choose how to use their magic. Since people had different motives for recurring to magic, there was a balance between the amount of magic being used (mostly to counteract each other). But now that no one was making use of this lingering magic, Regina could feel in the air an overage of energy. Remembering the Imp's lessons, since energy was never created nor destroyed but merely transformed, this overcompensation of magic was dangerous for the environment. How dangerous it was? She did not know and that was worrisome. But that was not the only thing worrying her. Regina could clearly see that Emma was a smart woman, and based on what they had just discussed, it was suspicious enough that she had never heard of the Sorcerers' War. Which meant that in this case ignorance was not a bliss, and unless she wanted the blonde to ask her more questions about herself and her past she had to get rid of her as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Regina realized that this would be very hard to do because she had already given Emma her word and Regina took pride in the fact that she never broke a promise.

It was one thing to be evil and another one to be a liar. And she was never the latter.

Emma, meanwhile, had also been thinking about her mysterious companion. Not only was she beautiful but she was also a witch! It had been many years since she last saw a magic wielder, and unlike her parents and the rest of royals who had grown afraid of it, Emma was simply enamoured by its uses and the possibilities it created. She had been 12 years old when she first heard about the kingdoms joining forces to attack all magical beings. Not only did most of the war take place on her parents' kingdom because of the concentrated presence of magic wielders, but it also hurt the White Kingdom the most because of its dependence for magic.

Emma knew that they had never been sickly wealthy (especially after Snow used most of the kingdom's wealth to destroy the Evil Queen), but they were prosperous and had the help and support of magic to make do. Nevertheless, once her parents joined the rest of the royal families' crusade to destroy magical beings that was the moment the kingdom collapsed. But what had always hurt Emma the most was the unnecessary lives destroyed: Werewolves, ogres, fairies, dwarves, witches and wizards were killed like scum. Red and Granny, along with the Seven Dwarves, were part of the few magical beings spared (because of their relationship to Snow White). But Emma could now see how that decision affected the love that the two werewolf women had for her mother. Emma quickly realized that that love was gone the moment Snow White turned her back on the creatures that had previously fought for her to regain her throne.

And, as it tended to happen with history, it became common knowledge for anyone. Which was why Regina's confession about not knowing of the war and all the destruction surprised her (and she was a witch!). That led Emma to become a little suspicious of her new companion. But not enough to challenge or question her because she could see that Regina had no plans of giving her to the White guards and that her goal was not to hurt her. Nevertheless, Emma could clearly see that there were some things the older woman was hiding from her. But then again, it wasn't as if she had expected the witch to be an open book and tell her whole life story. And yet there was an aura that Regina expelled that made Emma believe that she was not speaking to a mere peasant. It was her way of speaking; it was too well versed. Also, the way she moved her body clearly showed etiquette education.

Which meant that although Regina had told her that the two of them were not alike, Emma realized that perhaps they shared more similarities than merely being runaways of the White Kingdom.

"If I asked you a question." Emma said to the brunette. "Would you answer it?"

"You already did." Regina smirked and got herself a smile from the blonde.

"You know what I mean."

"I retain the right to refuse to answer if I do not want to."

"I can deal with that." Emma smiled mischievously and the brunette groaned. "Who are you? And do not tell me 'a simple peasant woman' because we both know that this is not true."

Before the brunette got a chance to argue Emma interrupted her again.

"Your way of speaking is too clean and polite. People from the villages do not talk like that. Also, the way you walk is as if you are used to having royal dresses. I know because I was also taught to walk with my back straight and my head held high so I wouldn't fall."

Regina knew she was trapped. Refusing to answer the question would be a confirmation of the blonde's suspicions, which would then bring more curiosity and questions.

"I was royalty a long time ago." she murmured.

"You cannot be older than 30 years." Emma said and got herself a laugh from the older woman. "And last I heard of, no royal has been destituted of their title."

"I am far older than what I look, your Highness. Remember, I am also a witch." Regina winked at her and Emma blushed softly.

"Tell me your royal name then. Most certainly I have heard of you because I read the story of all the kingdoms and I would like to consider myself some sort of an expert." Emma smiled brightly.

"I will tell you mine the moment you tell me yours." Regina smirked and the blonde's smile dissipated.

"That's not fair Regina." the blonde said annoyed. "And the fact that you fail to recognize me also intrigues me."

"Should I recognize you?" Regina asked curiously.

"Most people do." Emma shrugged. "And it is somehow refreshing to be with someone that does not seek my company because of my name."

"It is not as if I sought your company." Regina sassed. "If I am not mistaken, it was your terrible horse-riding skills the ones that placed us in this predicament."

"I already apologized for it." Emma looked down embarrassed. "And if you are a royal you know what I mean: How a name can change the way a person looks at you."

"That I completely understand." Regina murmured and then decided to focus on her companion. "So just to make things clear, you are running away because they want to force your hand in marriage."

"Yes?" Emma asked, confused by the older woman. Was she asking her a question or merely stating a fact?

"And the problem is?"

"That I do not want to get married. I do not love the man, nor know anything about him! How can I marry someone I don't know?!"

"You can, like the rest of us royals have to do." Regina smiled sadly. "You must be aware that most of the royal marriages of this realm are not built on True Love but merely politics."

"Politics?"

"Why of course. With a marriage comes heirs, heirs mean union of kingdoms."

"That is terrible!" Emma yelled while moving wildly on top of the horse.

Regina had to use her strength to keep the young woman from falling to the ground. Annoyed she gave her a soft slap. "Do calm yourself! The last thing we want is to spook your horse and have him run away."

"I am sorry." Emma blushed. "But I am just so angry. To believe that my parents would do something like that to me!"

"Most of them do if it comes with the promise of future wealth and prosperity. In fact, most princes and princesses, especially the latter, are taught to perform this duty."

"Well, I was not." Emma huffed. "I was taught to be an intelligent woman that refused to concede and one to believe in love and adventures."

"And how well did that work for you?" Regina could not help herself from commenting. "Here you are alone, on the run from a kingdom that has all kinds of resources, and without a clear plan of what you will do if you reach the Dark Forest. Perhaps marriage was not such a horrible thing to consider?"

"It was!" Emma exclaimed. "They wanted me to marry a man who was only concerned with my beauty. Not only that, but the fact that my parents were so quick to sell me off to him was also terrifying. I know myself, and I am not like that. I don't want that life. I don't want power." the blonde closed her eyes. "What I want is to be free."

Regina flinched mentally after hearing those words. This speech sounded way too familiar, and although it now hurt less to think of her past, it was still hard to see the same idealism and faith that time had made her lose.

"I got taught that power is freedom." Regina whispered. "And for a while I refused to believe that."

"For a while?"

"Then I realized that although power gives you freedom, it also takes it away: Real freedom comes from being allowed to make your own decisions, good or bad."

"But in order to do that you would need power."

"I thought so too." Regina smiled sadly. "And yet here I am with nothing more than what I carry with me."

"I am sorry Regina." the blonde whispered and grabbed one of the older woman's hands, softly squeezing it.

Regina squeezed back, surprised and yet happy with the shared contact. "Do not be. In fact, I have never felt as freer as of right now."

Emma looked at the older woman and saw that she was not lying. Despite learning a few more things about the brunette, she still felt as if there was some nagging truth that was being kept from her. A truth that would apparently be set free the moment she learned the woman's royal name. Wondering whom she could be, Emma realized that she truly didn't care that much. It was obvious now that the woman was not going to hurt her, or use her identity in order to gain favor with her parents. The reason she was sure of this was the disgust that Regina showed for royal politics and everything that they included. Perhaps it was Fate, but she was lucky that the person that found her stranded on the side of the road was one of the few individuals that did not recognize her. Although she had planned on asking Regina about her time in hiding, Emma stopped herself from doing so the moment she saw fear in those brown eyes. She understood the brunette's weariness towards sharing information, especially if she was a magic wielder. But something made Emma suspect that it was not only that what was scaring the older woman. Regina seemed to know her surroundings and customs of the land very well, which meant that she was from this realm. At the same time though, there was this air of wonderment in her face, almost as if things were at the same place but they did not look like they used to.

Almost as if she had been away from this land for a long time and was now just seeing it.

While Emma kept doing her best to give Regina some time to herself, the witch was convincing herself that it was all a mere coincidence. The fact that she was now helping a woman that was going to suffer the same fate she had suffered was just that, a coincidence. Nevertheless she didn't miss the fact that, of all the places she could have landed on, she had been dropped on the White Kingdom, her previous land and the one she had lost to the unCharmings. And, although she still felt anger towards Snow White, it was not the same unmeasured and unreasonable hate she had felt 18 years ago. This time Regina just wanted to be left alone to live her life in peace. She no longer cared about wealth and royalty, and as she had told Emma, she had never felt as free as she was now feeling.

 _Emma,_ the brunette thought and a soft smile came to her face. The young woman was certainly endearing. Not only that, but incredibly smart as well and capable of expressing herself and her desires without a single care. A nice but yet unfitting trait for a princess.

The two women were aware of the horse's tiredness. They knew that carrying two people was exhausting for the horse and that soon they would have to stop and get some rest. Luckily for Regina, when she had mentioned that there was a village half a day away from where they were, the reality was that another one had been established during the time she had been in limbo. Exhaling in relief, the two women looked at each other and went towards the stable. Emma took out some gold coins from her pouch and immediately told the stable-man to groom, feed and prepare her horse for the morning. Regina, meanwhile, had been quietly watching her surroundings. This was the first time, since she got back, that she found herself in a town. Expecting it to be better than the ones that were built during her reign, it was shocking to see that the living conditions were deplorable. There were naked people on the streets, obviously on the brink of starvation and disease, begging for food. Most of the carriages available were old and broken and children were sleeping on floors, using whatever they could find as cover. Gasping at the amount of unhappiness and poverty, Regina felt sorry for all of these people and what they were forced to go through.

"I assume this is the first time you have been inside a town since you went into hiding?" Emma asked knowingly.

"Indeed." the brunette murmured. "Things were quite different before I left."

"The moment the White Kingdom decided to destroy all magical beings it was the moment it lost all of its wealth and prosperity. You see, King Charming and Queen Snow White (it was so weird to talk about her parents like that) did not take into consideration that most of the working population of their kingdom were magical beings. Not only did they control the intake of magic inside the kingdom, but they also held the most important jobs and were in charge of caring for many humans. Instead of attempting to repair the damages or rebuild the economy, the Queen decided to use that wealth for the attainment of political alliances. But, there is no point in gaining alliances when there is no war going on." Emma smirked. "So you see, the money went to royal parties and royalty instead of going to feeding the poor."

"How typical of Snow White." Regina muttered in annoyance. "Believing that someone will always be trying to destroy her happiness."

Emma laughed loudly. Regina had just described her mother so well. Wait, Regina had just described her mother, which meant that Regina knew her mother. "You know her, don't you?"

"By her you mean Snow White?" Regina stalled. She had to stop being so honest with the blonde woman. She barely knew her and yet here she was sharing all of her secrets with her. "We crossed paths a long time ago." she said instead, annoyingly avoiding her own advice. "And that is all I will say on the matter."

Emma huffed in annoyance, but at the same time she was even more intrigued. It seemed that Regina and her mother did not get along, based on the way the older woman's expressions betrayed her attempted indifference. Smiling at the challenge of earning the trust of this enigmatic woman, Emma went to one of the taverns and quickly entered it not before raising her hood. Making space for Regina to follow, the two of them headed to one of the tables and ordered drinks and food.

"If you do not mind me asking." Regina started. "Have you been staying at taverns since you ran away?"

Emma nodded.

"And how are you paying for such an expense?" Regina asked surprised.

"I have been selling all my jewelry and goods to merchants the morning before I leave a village." Emma told her proudly.

Regina laughed loudly, earning herself the attention of some of the people inside. "And have they been following you closely since you left the first town?"

"How could you possibly know that?" Emma asked surprised.

"Because they are not tailing you, your Highness, but merely following the trail left by you."

"I am a very efficient rider and hunter. I never leave a trail unless I want to." Emma said offended.

"The trail left by your jewelry." Regina smirked and Emma's face became blank. "You see, prince and princesses running away from their palaces is not uncommon. Because of this, royal courts have a list of all royal jewelry. In the case a prince or princess decides to exchange it for cash, royal guards can go to the merchants of each village and ask if they have in their possession any of the royal jewelry."

"Shit." Emma muttered and looked down in complete embarrassment. "I am such a fool way out of her league."

Regina felt sorry for the blonde. "Well, now you know better and you will stop selling your family heirlooms." she looked around the tavern. "I suggest this is the last time we stay at one of these taverns since we are runaways and many freelancers like to hunt for preys in places like this. You are indeed lucky that no one has captured you." she mused to herself.

"And you seem very knowledgeable of all of this."

Regina smiled. "As I mentioned before, I was royalty many years ago."

"And why do I still feel that is not the complete truth?"

Regina winked at her. "Because it is not."

"And I do not like..." Emma was getting angry but then stopped speaking when she saw white guards entering the bar. "Shit. We have white guards scanning the place."

"Let me guess." Regina said annoyed. "You sold some jewelry at the previous village."

Emma nodded.

"And since there are no other villages nearby, it is obvious that the guards assumed you would be here."

"Your inputs are not really helping." Emma muttered and took a gulp of beer. "What are we going to do?"

"You, nothing." Regina whispered. "We will wait and see what they do. Good thing about White guards is that they are all men and most of them just want to have a drink and a good fuck after riding for the whole day."

"And to believe I found you all prudish and proper." Emma smirked.

"And I thought you were quite intelligent, but alas, it seems we were both left disappointed." Regina teased and tensed when the guards passed in front of them.

Thankful to see that they were being ignored, the two women saw the men approach the bar and place their orders while at the same time demanding the best accommodations for the troops of their Majesties King Charming and Queen Snow White.

Once the white guards left for their rooms, a sight of discontent fell from the people that remained in the establishment.

"Why are they so upset?" Regina asked intrigued.

"Because some of them will have to give their rooms away so that the owner can accommodate the royal guards." Emma whispered back.

"And they do it?"

"You know they have to." Emma said sadly. "Those who don't are considered traitors and sent to the dungeons."

"And this happens in Snow White's kingdom?"

"I know." Emma smirked. "Even the 'fairest of them all' has a fucked up system of tyranny."

"Coming from her that is just terrifying."

Emma was going to further ask what the brunette meant with that but found herself unable to when one of the guards sat at their table.

"Evening." the man said, sporting a cocky smile and clear in his intentions of getting their attention. "May I ask what are two beautiful women doing here all by themselves?"

"My sister and I are on our way home." Regina said while smiling shyly. "Our horse lost a shoe and we were forced to stop here until morning."

 _Shit, Regina does know how to play a man,_ Emma mused to herself and saw the way the man's gaze went through Regina's features, obviously stopping at the sight of the woman's breast. Emma groaned in anger and got herself a scolding but yet understanding look from the brunette.

"I see." the guard replied while getting closer to Regina. "But it is far too dangerous for women such as yourselves to be all alone. Perhaps a friend and I could accompany you."

"We would not want to impose." Regina smiled.

"I insist." the man said firmly, still trying to maintain a smile on his face. "There would be no better protection for you than the one given by a guard from her Majesties' army."

Emma could clearly read between the lines. What this man was implying to them was: Either go with him or face the consequences of insubordination. The blonde waited, not sure of what the older woman would do.

"And we still refuse." Regina said, tired already of this tête-à-tête. "Now, if you could excuse us, we are leaving." she stood up and grabbed Emma's hand.

"You don't leave until I tell you to leave, whore." the guard said angrily. "Failure to comply with the Queen's orders are the equivalent of jail." he smirked.

"Does you Queen command you to rape women?" Regina asked loudly and the room fell to complete silence. "Or do you use your Queen's name to rape women?"

The guard simply stared at her, shocked at having someone rebel against them. Not only that, but it was done in such a way that left the man with no choice that would hurt him. Knowing that his position in the guard was now screwed, all thanks to that woman, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

"I will get what I want!" he grunted and grabbed the brunette's arm forcefully.

"And you will leave her alone!" Emma screamed and kicked him in his crotch.

The man screamed in agony and got the attention of the rest of the guards. Although he had been an asshole to the two women, they could not allow the people to think that insubordination was not punished. The captain of the group went to where the women were standing, and before he could confirm his sentence, he saw a flicker of blonde hair and green eyes.

"Princess Emma!" the man said and this was the moment the two women knew that they were screwed. "Your Highness, by request of your parents we will take you back to the White Castle."

 _Request of her parents?_ Regina thought and then realized who her companion truly was. She started to laugh loudly, earning strange looks from the guards and Emma, who was completely frozen. Fate, it seemed, decided not only to get her involved with a runaway royal, but that said royal was the daughter of her archenemies. Truly poetic.

"I refuse to go with you." Emma said firmly, still concerned about Regina's sudden breakdown. "Your services are not required."

"I am afraid, your Highness, that you are outranked by your parents." the captain said and nodded for the guards to get closer.

Regina was thinking of a safe way to escape, especially now that they had to face 30 men all by themselves. She already knew that the only way out of this mess would come by using her magic to aid her. Emma was a fine swords-woman, but there was simply not so much she could do without having help. Which then led Regina to think that perhaps she should just let the men take the princess away and be done with it. 18 years ago she would have done that, but now she found herself incapable of doing so. She realized that she liked Emma, and that unlike her parents, she didn't have this narcissistic idea of her being only good. Despite her best interests, Regina found herself wanting to spend more time with the blonde woman, and in order for that to happen she first had to save her. Again.

 _I guess this is the time for me to reveal that I am back,_ Regina smirked and used her magic to summon a sword. There was a gasp in the room, the people completely in shock at having seen a person perform magic. And, not just any magic, some men smirked to themselves, but magic with a purple smoke.

Emma looked towards Regina and saw that she had conjured for herself a sword. So it seems that despite of her keeping her identity a secret, Regina was still going to help her escape. Certainly strange but definitely welcomed. In fact, when she felt a shield appear on her free hand she winked at the brunette in appreciation.

"Identify yourself!" the captain yelled at the brunette who simply shrugged in annoyance. "Are you aware that performing magic is now forbidden in the White Kingdom?"

"I have heard." Regina said calmly and the blonde laughed.

"And yet here you are using it against her Majesties' guards."

"Because you are attempting to take my friend against her will."

"She is a royal. A peasant like yourself has no right to compare to her, worse say that you are equals." the man spat at her.

"And you have no right to speak to a Queen in such a way."

Emma turned around and to her surprise saw the same man from the other village's tavern that had escaped the royal guards. Winking in acknowledgement, he moved forward and kneeled in front of Regina, who was clearly shocked.

"I, Anthony the Second, was a Commander of her Majesties' Dark army. I served my Queen with honor and will now do so again if my Queen commands it." he said loudly while taking his fingers and pushing them to his chest in a sign of allegiance. For the surprise of Regina and Emma, he was not the only one that performed the sign. In fact, half of the room, including some women, had done it while nervously looking around.

Regina smiled warmly at the loyalty of her soldiers and her people. She now knew that her attempt at having a peaceful and solitary life was not her mission. Unlike her previous self who was more focused on her own goals, this time she saw that there was a way for her to earn the forgiveness of the people she had hurt in the past. Nodding in acceptance, Regina waved her hand past Anthony and he was soon enveloped in a purple cloud. The moment it dissipated, the room gasped when they found him in uniform, the insignia of the Dark Kingdom standing proudly on his chest. After that, it was Regina the one that disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke, one that was soon replaced by the beautiful and yet terrifying image of the Evil Queen.

Emma stopped breathing the moment she saw Regina appear in a black dress. Not only was it hugging all of her curves wonderfully, but her whole demeanor transformed. Instead of having a beautiful middle class peasant in front of her, Emma now saw a sexy and dominant Queen. She had heard tales of the Evil Queen, of her looks and presence, thanks to her godmother and the people that worked at the palace. But the tales were nothing in comparison to the woman herself. She knew that the brunette had gone through a lot, and based on the fact that she had been honest with her beforehand, she knew that the Evil Queen was a person she could trust and would protect no matter what. Somehow, she knew that Regina was the hope and answers this kingdom needed in order to prosper.

 _And people said that my mother was the fairest of them all?_ , Emma thought while watching the way Regina moved. They were obviously mistaken or blind because she had never seen a more beautiful woman than Regina Mills.

"It's the Evil Queen!" one of the guards said and got instantly pushed to the wall by an invisible force summoned by Regina.

After this the tavern became complete chaos. Men and women that were now raising their fist in a sign of allegiance were being enveloped in clouds of purple smoke. To the surprise of Emma, the women that also had their armor seemed to be well trained in sword fighting. It was obvious that Regina did not discriminate when it came to members of her army. Some of the people who had raised their hands were not being changed, and after asking one of the Dark army guards why this was, she found out that only the people that had previously been on the army were being allowed to fight. Smiling at this, she saw Regina from afar and pointed towards her shield. Soon after she felt a warm current in her arm, and Emma quickly turned it around to see the insignia of the Dark Kingdom, which was immediately put to the test when a guard tried to surprise her from behind.

Regina, meanwhile, was merely flicking her hand and stopping two men from approaching her with their swords raised. She looked down and saw some roots sprouting from the ground. Smirking, she raised her hands and immediately 5 guards found themselves immobilized by magical roots. Surprised by the reception and by the amount of Dark soldiers that were now getting rid of the White guards, Regina turned around and searched for Emma, who was not so far away involved in her own sparring duel. Not wanting to take the fun away from the blonde, but feeling that they had to leave, Regina raised one of the roots that were near one of the guard's feet and he lost his balance.

"Regina!" she heard a whine and soon enough an annoyed Emma was behind her. "I had him!"

"I know dear." Regina smirked. "But I think it is better if we leave."

"But what about your people?" she asked when she saw the Dark Army men assembling themselves into formation. "Shit, they are good."

"Only the best for the Dark Kingdom." Regina smiled and then addressed her people. "Thank you. For aiding your Queen when she needed it and for remaining faithful after all these years. I want to be better now, I want to redeem myself and leave my mistakes behind. If you want to aid me in doing so, I want you to meet me, in a week's time, at the Dark Palace."

The soldiers looked at each other and nodded. Anthony, the Commander, asked for permission to speak. Regina nodded.

"My Queen, what would you have us do with the captured guards?"

"Return them to the White Kingdom with this." she waved her hand and a letter with her shield and handwriting appeared. She then looked at Emma. "The moment this letter reaches your parents they will know you are with me. Are you fine with this?" she whispered the last part softly, unbeknownst to herself that this exchange was earning the surprised look from her soldiers.

"Are you kidding me?!" Emma smiled happily. "I have dreamed of meeting you since I first heard tales about you! Besides..." she murmured. "My parents lost my allegiance the moment they decided to sell me to the Underwater Kingdom. But..." she looked at Regina's soft brown eyes. "If you refuse to return me to them they will consider it reason enough to go to war with you. And I don't want to be the reason that destroys your chance at finding happiness."

"Emma..." the brunette whispered. "I think that it was decided that I would protect you the moment you almost killed me with your horse." the two women laughed and were still being analyzed by the shocked soldiers.

"Are we sure this is the same Evil Queen of 18 years ago?" one of the guards murmured.

"No, she is not." Anthony said while smiling happily. "This is Queen Regina."

"So what does that mean?" Emma whispered longingly at the woman who had somehow become her savior.

"It means that if you want, and based on your wonderful sword-fighting skills and military knowledge, I want to offer you a position in my army and court."

"But I am a woman."

"And so am I and many others that are in my army." Regina replied. "I want you to become the Dark Kingdom's Knight."

"Me?" Emma shrieked in surprise. "But I am not good enough."

"Well, you certainly know how to use a sword and already saved my life earlier today, your Highness." Anthony remarked and got some laughs from the rest of the army.

"Then it's settled." Regina smiled warmly. "Anyone that is faithful to the Dark Kingdom or is ready to pledge allegiance to it is welcomed to come. I suggest you change to your normal wardrobe so that your identity remains a secret. I do not want silly heroic acts." she looked at each one of them knowingly. "That includes you too Commander." she winked at Anthony who immediately blushed.

"Understood your Majesty."

After that Regina waved her hand one more time and all the members of the Dark Army were returned to their old-looking selves. Not only that, but the tavern was rebuilt and all the signs that told that a battle had occurred inside were completely gone. The moment Emma and Regina turned around and headed out of the tavern they heard Anthony and the rest of people yell.

"Long Live Queen Regina!"

Emma chuckled and grabbed the brunette's hand, who without noticing it had started to cry. Squeezing it in a sign of support and understanding, she raised the hand and kissed it sweetly, which in turn got her a surprised look from the older woman.

"Long Live Queen Regina." the blonde whispered and Regina gave her a bright smile.


	6. Ain't Fate A Bitch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> News of the Evil Queen's return travel fast and Queen Snow White is not happy.

**At the White Palace**

Queen Snow White was moving around her room in quiet contempt. Her daughter's escapade was not only hurting their opportunities to tie themselves to the Underwater Kingdom, but they were also spending too much money on finding her. Her guards expenses were enormous and the amount of troops that she had sent across her kingdom was one she would send to fight a small revolt or attempted invasion. But without the aid of magic they now had to rely on human abilities and unfortunately her daughter's disappearance had not been noticed until the day she was meant to leave with Prince Killian. Luckily for her, and in remembrance of her time as a runaway bandit, Snow White knew that her daughter would sell royal goods in exchange for coin. She had sent her army captain with a list of the Princess' jewelries and the mission of bringing her back no matter the cost. Snow was aware that her daughter was well trained in hunting, sword fighting and tracking because during their first years as rulers she and her husband had decided to prepare Emma for any kind of scenario. At the time it seemed like a good idea, but now that it was almost one week without a sight of her child, Snow was starting to regret that they raised such an independent and free-spirited woman.

Her dark line of thought was interrupted by the arrival of her husband. Expecting some good news from him, when he just plumped down on his chair she realized that this was not the case.

"It has been more than a week and still no one has seen her." Snow said angrily. "Guards just keep telling us that they are trailing her with the list of royal jewelries but somehow still manages to evade capture." she huffed in annoyance. "Tell me, how are we supposed to rely on our army if they are incapable of capturing an 18 year old woman?!"

"Emma is not just any 18 year old woman." Charming tried to calm her wife. "She is smart, independent and strong. We prepared her to survive in a world like that."

"And look at the price we are paying for that." she murmured darkly. "We have given her everything and the one thing we ask of her she cannot deliver."

"We were asking her to enter a loveless marriage when she has been told during her whole life about the wonders of True Love." he whispered. "Can you really blame her for wanting that kind of love?"

"I blame us." she told her husband sternly. "We raised a daughter but not a princess."

"But you were just like that Snow. In fact, that's what made me fall in love with you when we first met." Charming told her.

"It was necessary to be that way." Snow White refuted while caressing her husband's face. "I had to be strong and independent because my stepmother was trying to kill me." she finished angrily.

"And that made you the Queen you are now." Charming continued to argue. "You have maintained your Kingdom during two wars and have repelled rebellions and revolts before they even started. You are a strong Queen."

"We don't need Emma to be a strong Queen, Charming." Snow said angrily. "We need Emma to be an obedient one. If this deal with the Underwater Kingdom does not go through then we will surely lose half of the Kingdom to Frederick and Abigail."

"I care more about getting our daughter back than losing a piece of land." Charming said firmly.

Snow looked up at her husband's face and saw that quiet defiance in him. Unlike her, who had grown in a palace and knew how politics worked, Charming had been a shepherd. Knowing that she needed to show a united front to their supporters and her people, Snow realized that antagonizing her husband would only bring her future problems. She knew of her husband's love for their daughter, in fact, he had always felt attached to Emma since the two of them shared their love for swords, horses and adventure. Unlike her, who had embraced that life out of necessity, Charming was definitely the closest one to her daughter, being adamant at first when she proposed the arranged marriage idea to him. He found it despicable and unfitting for them to enforce their own daughter to marry out of duty when they were the embodiment of True Love. Not only that, but her husband had always been against any kind of forced marriage since he had been ordered by King George to marry Abigail many years ago. As last time, Snow realized that a little persuasion would be needed in order to assuage her husband's worries. Luckily for her, Charming was just like any other man and had primal needs.

Snow slowly approached her husband and grabbed his hand, pulling him up and making way towards the bed. She had to think about the best way to make him believe that he was not being manipulated. Carefully setting herself behind him, she moved him so he would sit on the mattress. This position would allow her to control what he could see and feel, which meant that she had to use her words and touch at the same time to distract him. She got closer to him and carefully took his shirt off, smirking when she noticed how his skin reacted to her touch. Pushing her body close to his, she moved her mouth over his neck until it reached his ear.

"Perhaps before this would have been good enough." she murmured and felt his muscles tense. "But what we need right now is to show strength." she put emphasis on that last word by biting his ear. "We need to show that we care about our kingdom." she moved her hands over his naked torso and felt his breath hitch. "Don't you agree?"

"I do." he whispered, trying to form coherent thoughts. "But she is also our daughter Snow."

"And don't you think that I am also heartbroken by her departure?" she separated from him and took off her nightgown, leaving her in her underwear. "I love my daughter just as much as you do."

"Then let's call this marriage off. I know she will come back the moment we do this." Charming said firmly, capable somehow of thinking about something that did not involve his aching groin.

Snow smiled, and in a slow walk she stepped in front of her husband, whose eyes became dark with lust. She could see the effect she was having on him because of his hard panting and growing bulge.

"You know we cannot do that." Snow whispered while getting closer to him and opening her legs. "Our people." she said while sitting on top of him. "Need us." she exclaimed while lowering her hand to the top of his pants and squeezing. "Don't you think so?"

Charming groaned, confused and incredibly turned on. It had been a while since Snow and him had been intimate, and although he had tried to calm his needs by himself, to feel his wife on top of him, caressing his growing organ, was driving him insane.

"You know..." Snow groaned while taking her hand out and cleaning it with Charming's pant. "That I'm right." Snow lowered herself on top of his hidden erection and felt him attempt to keep the contact. "That we cannot lose our land after all we went through to get it." she continued to lower her butt. "Please say I'm right."

"You are right." Charming groaned and moved his hip upwards.

"So we will do as I say?" she took her bra off and Charming's eyes opened wider, the shaft hidden under his pant getting harder.

"Yes." he moaned when Snow opened his pants and took them off, leaving his penis on view.

"You are a good man, my Prince Charming." Snow finally took her panties off and threw them away, quickly placing herself on top of her husband's legs. "And now I'm going to show you how much I love you." she kissed him and grabbed his penis. "Now I am going to let you fuck me until I beg you to stop."

Charming groaned loudly when he finally felt his wife lower herself on him, the pressure he had been experiencing since she took his shirt off demanding to take her on her back. Immediately he did that, grabbing her waist with his arms and quickly turning her so he was now the one on top of her. Now that he could see her clearly, Charming saw how ready his wife was for him, and without any more preambles he pushed inside of her.

The moment Snow felt her husband's penis inside of her she screamed in contentment. She had missed this type of contact from him, and based on his violent and fast movements, he was desperate for release. Moving her hips so the contact would be stronger, she made her butt land on his hips and this could let her feel the sweat and liquid that was falling from her legs. Separating from his erection for a while, she looked at it and grabbed it with her hand, quickly massaging it so it would grow harder. Charming screamed in delight, and with a quick turn he placed her wife under him, using the movement to enter her.

Pumping and squirming, Charming fastened his pace when he felt her wife's walls enclosing his shaft, a clear sign that she was getting closer to her climax. He could feel her wife's hands roaming around his body, pinching, holding for dear life while her hips moved in tandem with his. He entered a frenzy when he felt Snow's strong hands enclosing his back, forcing him to turn around so that now he would be the one under his wife.

Snow looked down on her husband and saw his desperation and need for dominance. Although a very sweet man, Charming always craved control when it came to sex, and even if he liked the challenge of dominating her, most of the time Snow subdued herself to his needs. This time, nevertheless, she wanted something more, and after tainting him to get hard again, she was satisfied when she jumped on him and started to slam her cunt to his penis and mercilessly kept on humping down until she felt Charming release his sperm inside of her. With a loud scream Snow fell on top of her husband, who immediately held her close and started to caress her back until he finally fell asleep. The moment he did so, Snow separated from him and covered herself with her night robe. Now that her Charming problem was taken care of, she needed to think of a way to keep Prince Killian interested in Emma and hence their kingdom. She knew that the young man was not patient and that the only reason he was still a guest of the White Kingdom was because of his adventures in the taverns. Not really caring about the virtue of the man, Snow knew that the moment Prince Killian got bored it would be the moment they would lose their deal with the Underwater Kingdom.

**Somewhere in the Enchanted Forest,**

When Emma Swan woke up she felt rejuvenated: She had experienced the weirdest but yet best dream ever that included fighting in a tavern, being rescued by the former Evil Queen (who turned out to be a woman named Regina Mills that she almost killed with her horse) and becoming a member of her Dark Army. _Apart from the fact that the woman was gorgeous,_ Emma smirked to herself and opened her eyes for the first time. Instead of seeing a roof on top of her, what was there instead was a big tree. Scared by her surroundings, the blonde sat up and noticed that she was in the middle of the forest. In front of her there was a fire that had probably died during the night and the remains of a small animal. She felt a blanket on top of her and quickly turned around in search of Bug. When she saw him quietly sleeping she calmed down, allowing herself for the first time to try to remember how she got there. Nevertheless, when Emma heard soft noises coming from one of the bushes, the blonde blindly looked for her bow, and relieved that she had it right next to her, immediately took an arrow and shot it to the human that had come out of them.

Regina felt the air move around her, and in a quick memorized motion she grabbed with her hand the arrow that Emma had efficiently pointed towards her head. Huffing in annoyance she threw it to the floor and saw the shocked look the woman was giving her.

"Really, Miss Swan?" she asked sarcastically. "Are you going to try to kill me until you succeed?"

Emma took deep breaths and saw the woman of her dreams talking to her as if they knew each other. In fact, she had almost killed her with one of her arrows. Slowly rising up she approached the brunette, who was looking at her with curiosity.

"Are you real?" the blonde murmured in admiration while getting closer.

Regina saw that the young woman was not lying when it came to her question, and suddenly worried about her new friend she decided to stop teasing her.

"Miss Swan, are you alright?"

"Regina..." Emma whispered vehemently and got even closer to the brunette, who was now wearing pants and a red riding shirt. "Am I still dreaming?"

"Emma?" the brunette was now really concerned. It was obvious that Emma had forgotten about the events of the previous night or somehow thought that it had all been a dream. "Please answer my question."

"You saved me from my parents' guards." the blonde smiled warmly. "You used magic." she moved her hand so she could touch the woman's skin, expecting it to dissipate under her fingers the moment she made contact.

"Indeed." she said carefully while watching the blonde and for some strange reason not stopping her. "A nice surprise, by the way, to not mention the fact that your parents are Snow White and Prince Charming." she felt soft fingers on her skin and closed her eyes. It had been such a long time since someone treated her this reverently, lovingly and respectfully.

Emma opened her eyes when her fingers made contact with soft skin. She then saw Regina's smile and realized that the woman was real, that she had saved her from the royal guards and that she had magic and a number of faithful followers. And she had those followers because Regina Mills was the former Evil Queen.

"Shit!" Emma said while looking at Regina and continuing her caress without really noticing. "It was all real!"

Regina laughed loudly. "Indeed it was." she then gave a pointed look to Emma's hand on her cheek and the younger woman blushed.

"You are alive!" Emma shrieked, still keeping her hand on Regina's cheek.

"It appears I am." the brunette was having too much fun with the blonde's reaction.

Regina was still surprised of Emma's reaction since she had not tried to attack her or run away from her. In fact, the moment the two women left the Dark Army behind, she had expected Emma to grab her horse and leave without looking back. Instead, what had happened was that she had made Regina change clothes so that they wouldn't get unwanted attention and had paid the man in the stables for his services. Quickly the two had gotten on top of Bug and made their way to the forest where they would spend the night.

"But how?" Emma mumbled while stroking the older woman's cheek, needing the contact as confirmation that the brunette in front of her was real and not a figment of her imagination.

"I am not sure." Regina whispered honestly while putting her hand on top of the blonde's in a sign of reassurance.

"My parents told me you died. They told me you tried to run away and got killed because of that." Emma whispered, feeling butterflies in her stomach with the way Regina was stroking her hand.

"I got help. From the Blue Fairy." she told the blonde while sitting down and making the younger woman do the same.

Emma took her hand off her face but still held the brunette's hand firmly. "Blue helped you escape." she smiled sadly. "So that's why the guards' story was all fuzzy and weird."

Regina smiled too. "For whatever reason, the Blue Fairy had the order of saving me and she could not refuse to obey it."

"But where were you during all of these years? And why do you still look so young?"

"It seems that during the last 18 years I was in a state of nothingness. Until I met you yesterday I had no idea that such a long time had gone by."

"That's why you had no idea of the Sorcerers' War." Emma whispered and squeezed her hand. "Oh Regina..."

"Do not feel sorry for me." the brunette said sadly. "I deserved my punishment. I was judged by Fate and spent these last 18 years paying the price of all my wrongdoings."

"Fate judged you? As in Fate the creators of all realms and realities? The ones that rule over the fairies?"

"You are very knowledgeable for being a mere human." Regina complimented the blonde who blushed. "And yes, they were the ones who ordered the Blue Fairy to help me escape."

"You paid the price..." Emma muttered to herself. "And got absolved by Fate?" Emma said happily. "Do you know what that means? It means that no human or magical entity can judge you for your crimes."

"I am aware." Regina smirked, finding adorable the blonde's dorkiness. "But you know who I was Emma, and what I did." she reminded the young woman. "Not many will forgive me, worse want me to remain alive."

"Don't say that!" Emma's hold on Regina's hand got tighter. "It's true that I never saw what you did, but I am no one to judge you or your actions. In fact, I am no one to judge Fate's decision to grant you forgiveness. You, Regina Mills, are a free woman that deserves to live her second chance the way she wants to."

Regina cried softly, surprised and thankful towards the blonde woman who was smiling warmly at her. Unlike others who were too afraid of her, Emma was afraid for her. She felt warmth in her previously cold heart and smiled brightly. It had been so long since she felt something for another person. She had forgotten how wonderful feeling like this was.

"Thank you Emma." she whispered while kissing the young blonde's hands, surprising herself and the woman with this gesture.

Emma smiled happily and nodded. "And do you want to get your kingdom back, Queen Regina?"

Regina knew that Emma was teasing her with the use of her royal title. "About that..." the brunette remembered. "I fail to understand how easy it is for you to discuss my attempt at recovering my kingdom. You are aware that in order to do so I will have to face your parents?"

"Have you seen the way things are?" Emma retorted. "My parents are the worst royals of the realm. They have led their kingdom to bankruptcy, eliminated more than half of the population with the Sorcerers' Wars and are currently losing their land to King Frederick and Queen Abigail."

"I thought the kingdoms made an alliance to not invade each other's territories?"

"My parents never discussed the territory that was part of the lowlands where the fairies used to live."

"And that territory is in both kingdoms." Regina understood.

"Yes. Before the war, that territory was part of the White Kingdom because most of the magical beings lived there. But, with the elimination of fairies, it is now a mere land that is in the middle of the two kingdoms. For King Frederick and Queen Abigail, that territory is an extra gain to their kingdom. For my parents, to lose that land is an immense loss because it has always been accounted as part of the White Kingdom."

"Well, I feel I am somehow responsible for Snow White's lack of intelligence when it comes to politics and war strategy." Regina shrugged.

"Oh, don't be. She had enough time to prepare herself and actually went against her council when they advised her to not take part in Sorcerers' Wars. You know, since the war mostly took place in their kingdom because the majority of the magical beings lived in said kingdom." Emma said with sarcasm and made Regina smile.

"You are certainly not what I expected, Emma White." Regina purred and enjoyed the young woman's blush.

"When you were presumed dead, my mother kept your advisors on her council for the first years, accepting their suggestions when it came to magical beings laws and treaties." Emma winked at her when she saw Regina's shocked face. "But when she felt comfortable enough in the throne she dismissed them and created a council of royals who were financing her new government. Of course, these people only cared about money and earning it for themselves instead of helping the poor." Emma said angrily. "And little by little the kingdom fell apart and became what you just saw. It is because of this that I want to see you win it back. You, although firm and against my mother and her supporters, were one of the smartest and best prepared rulers this realm has ever seen."

"And how would you know this?" Regina asked intrigued.

"Your hidden library." Emma further blushed when she saw the brunette's teasing smile. "I was a rather curious child and I ended up discovering many secret passages. One of these led to an old room, and after going through the stuff in it I saw transaction books, maps and magic books. I immediately assumed that they belonged to you while you stayed at the Summer Palace." the blonde kept looking at Regina. "And I read every single thing you wrote in them. You knew your kingdom, you were fair with magical beings and your people had food and jobs. Perhaps the only thing I could criticize about your reign was your desire to kill Snow White." Emma teased her softly.

Regina laughed loudly, completely surprised and relieved at the way Emma saw her. This was just too good to be true and she wanted to make sure that the younger woman was not confused or deceiving her. The latter thing had occurred too many times already.

"Emma, I killed because I could. I destroyed many people's happiness in an attempt to get mine back." she whispered sadly. "And still here you are, teasing me about my time as Queen and helping me get my throne back."

"And you need to understand Regina that the world is not simply black or white." Emma said vehemently. "The world is set in different shades of gray, and just as good people can do bad things, bad people can also do good things. You Regina, were acting as a Queen and attempting to keep peace in your kingdom during my mother's upheaval. Your actions would, and have been done, by all the royals of this realm. Only difference is that you got accused of wickedness and evil by it while the 'good side' called it justice. So you see, it all depends on the way the story is being told."

Although she felt that this next question was going to reveal her weakness, Regina needed to know if Emma was attempting to just use her for her own gains. Their conversation, the lingering touches and the warm smiles confused her and yet made her want to believe that the blonde was being honest and true. She craved for the young woman's presence, and for some strange reason she felt as if they had known each other for longer than what it has actually been.

Taking a deep breath, Regina took Emma's hand and squeezed it.

"Emma..." the brunette said softly. "You know who I am, who I was." she stopped and gathered herself. "And although my reputation says that I am cold and heartless, the reality is quite the opposite: I am afraid that I feel too much, and because of this I have been hurt in the past by the people I trusted to protect me from pain. This, in return, made me become an isolated and suspicious woman. I learned that good intentions are hidden attempts at acquiring future favors." she saw that Emma was getting ready to answer and she stopped her. "I am not saying with this that I believe you are one of these people. But, it does make me question why you are not one of them: I wanted to destroy your parents' happiness, hence your own, and still here you are grabbing my hand and blushing at my remarks." she took her hand away from Emma's and held the blonde's face softly. "Please, do not make me believe that you want to be my friend when all you desire from me is a future favor. I understand that I need you with me in order to get my kingdom back, but we can do that as political partners." Regina said while staring at deep green eyes. "My offer for you to be a part of my council and a knight of my kingdom remains, Emma White, no matter what you decide."

Emma smiled sadly and sighted when she felt Regina's hands caressing her face absently. "I don't know exactly what made you be so scared of placing your trust on people." she started. "But I do know that this mistrust is not misplaced or unfounded. I also know what it feels like to be rejected and misunderstood. For many years I saw how much I disappointed my mother: She wanted me to become a princess, to enjoy royal life and the politics behind it. Instead, what I really wanted to do was take Bug and disappear for days. I enjoyed the adrenaline I felt when I was galloping on the meadow, the quietness of the trees and the twitching of branches when I was setting my bow and arrow for the kill. I loved laying down on the soft ground and simply stare at the sky because no matter who I was, it was always going to be and act the same way towards me." Emma smiled warmly at the brunette. "I have always believed that our actions are our own but Fate pushes us. I mean, I could have run away from my parents earlier than when I did. In fact, I had even thought about it many times before I finally did it one week ago."

"And why did you not do it sooner?" Regina whispered.

"Because I hoped my parents would change: I desired my mother's love and for my father to fight for me. Running away wouldn't have shown this, so I held on to this idea that if they saw my pain they would try to fix it. Of course, my hopes were crashed the moment they announced my engagement to Prince Killian and at that moment I knew that I was the only one responsible for my own happiness." Emma said softly and attempted a smile that looked more like a grimace. "Besides, I don't think that it was a coincidence that you got set free from limbo the same day some White guards found me. Nor the fact that it was I the person that almost killed you when you appeared in the middle of the road."

"Also, do not forget that you turned out to be the daughter of my former archenemies and the sole heir to the other half of my former kingdom." Regina teased and this got her a real smile from Emma.

"Well, sometimes Fate can be a bitch." Emma said and the two women laughed. "But as I told you before, I am no one to challenge or question the decisions that Fate takes. And, based on all the gathered evidence, it's obvious that Fate wanted us together and I agree with their decision. With you Regina, I feel that I can be myself. You challenge me and make me want to be more than what I was. I don't have to hide my true self from you, in fact you actually bring it out of me." she took the brunette's hands away from her face and set them up so the two of them could see them, still maintaining the contact. "I was not attempting to gain a future favor from you when I decided to help you. I was just looking for you to be my friend." she whispered the last part.

Regina felt the sincerity behind the blonde's words, and without a thought she hugged the young woman tightly, immediately feeling her loosen up and return the hug earnestly.

"I believe you." the older woman said and a soft white light appeared around them, none noticing it since they were deeply staring at each other. "And I also want to be your friend, Emma White."

SQSQSQSQSQSQSQ

"Rumplestiltskin, you have a visitor." the guard said and a person in a hood appeared in front of him

"Still trying to fool me, your Majesty?" he laughed and pointed towards the hood. "You don't need to hide your pretty face from me. In fact, after 18 years of solitude it would be nice to see the face of the fairest of them all."

Snow White lowered her hood and carefully approached the magical cell.

"My presence here is for my sole benefit, remember that." she threatened him.

"In order to get my services you would need to do a deal with me." the man shrieked in delight. "Rules remain the same."

"How about I don't cut your head?"

"Thanks but no thanks." the man laughed maniacally. "Besides, we both know I am no good to you dead."

Snow White took a deep breath and knew that in order to receive she would have to give something in return. "What do you want?"

"What I want is an old book of the Evil Queen. It had belonged to me before it was stolen by her mother, Cora. I know that after you killed her you sent your guards to her castle to confiscate all of her belongings. This book must have been between them and I merely want it back in my possession."

"So anything I ask you will do as long as I allow you to take this book?" Snow asked, trying to understand in which way the book would help the man. His request was too innocent and this scared her.

"Indeed your Majesty. As you know very well, not many people manage to break a deal with me. Cora did, and in the process stole my book. This book, because of her insolence, now symbolizes this victory of her. To have it back would mean that in the end she paid the price for breaking my deal."

Snow White was desperate, and because the request did not directly deal with an object that belonged to her, she was ready to accept the deal. "In exchange of this book you will help me locate my daughter, Princess Emma."

"Has the independent Princess finally grown tired of royal life and pompous tea parties?" the man smirked in enjoyment.

"What my daughter does is not your business."

"Indeed, so do we have a deal?" he took his hand out.

Snow looked at it hesitantly for a couple of seconds. "Ok, Rumplestiltskin, you got yourself a..."

"Your Majesty!" a guard interrupted and the woman took her hand away from the cell. "They found her! They found Princess Emma!" he said nervously and the Queen smiled.

"That is wonderful news!" she said relieved at not having made the deal with the wizard. "I want you to bring her to me right now."

"We cannot." the man whispered and this earned the attention of the Queen and Rumplestiltskin.

"What do you mean you can't?" Snow White asked murderously.

"She... she evaded capture." the guard whispered.

"How is it possible that a mere 18 year old woman managed to defeat a small royal battalion?!"

"She had help..." the guard gulped down, clearly more nervous with the news he was about to give.

"From whom? Spies of King Frederick and Queen Abigail?"

"No, your Majesty." the guard said.

"Then who else would help her? A reward was offered and in times like this no one would refuse to acquire it."

"The Evil Queen." the guard said and Snow White froze. Rumplestiltskin also remained quiet. For the first time in many years he had nothing to say.

"But it's impossible. We killed her. I saw her body!" Snow screamed loudly. "You must be mistaken."

"A woman performed magic when your daughter was being escorted by the captain of the battalion. The magic was a purple smoke and the moment sympathizers of the Dark Kingdom swore a service oath, their clothes got transformed into Dark Army armor. Your soldiers were defeated and sent back to the castle, along with a letter from the Evil Queen." he took it out of his pocket and gave it to the shaking hands of Snow White.

_My Dearest Stepdaughter,_

_I must admit that you almost succeeded in your attempt to kill me. In fact, the moment your UnCharming husband crushed my father's heart I thought that all hope and chance at revenge was destroyed with it. I had hoped that 18 years would allow you to grow and somehow embrace the role of a true monarch. Nevertheless, it seems that I was right when I told you that you would never be able to be a Queen: Your kingdom is bankrupt, your people hate you and your own daughter runs away from you. Although she has your chin, she is quite beautiful, and thankfully nothing like you or your excuse of a husband. Should I be worried that people that have lived in your kingdom for 18 years swear their loyalty to me, the Evil Queen? Certainly dear Snow, I thought I taught you better when it came to power and keeping your kingdom under control. Instead, what I see is poverty and guards that go from town to town raping women and drinking themselves to oblivion._

_Because of all of this, and of my subjects desires, I feel that I must reclaim the Kingdom that I had to pay for when I married your disgusting father. If you surrender your right to the throne, I promise no lives will be lost in vain. But, if you wish to fight for it I will do so as well._

_T_ _he time of Queen Snow White has ended and the time of Queen Regina has just begun._

_I anxiously await for your response and Princess Emma sends her regards._

The moment Snow White finished reading the letter she felt her blood boiling. Tearing the paper apart while screaming, she felt her whole world shatter. Not only was Regina alive, but she was with her daughter. She had to stop her no matter the cost. She had to maintain her kingdom no matter the price. Snow had spent too much time fighting for it and now she was not going to lose it. She would kill the Evil Queen once and for all and make her daughter marry Prince Killian if it was the thing she did. Her line of thought got interrupted by the maniac laugh that came from the cell.

"It seems that the Evil Queen is back." he chirped happily while dancing around the cage. "And is in the company of your daughter." he sang.

"She won't be for long." Snow White murmured darkly and this got another laugh from the wizard.

"Now why are you laughing?" she spat at him.

"Oh, for no reason dearie." he smirked. "I was just thinking that you rebelled against the Evil Queen in order to free your people from her evilness and yet you turned out to be far worse than her. Perhaps I should have chosen you as my apprentice instead of her."

"I do this for justice. To keep the people safe from her wrath."

"Oh no dearie. We both know that you are doing all of this for yourself and for your need to remain in power. A bandit that has earned gold does not part from it so easily."

"I am a Queen!"

"The more reason to be afraid then, since monarchs believe all of their acts are automatically forgiven and justified because of their self-imposed virtue. How much darkness would one be able to find in your heart if it was taken out?" he laughed darkly.

Snow White simply turned around and left him laughing by himself. She took a look at the guard that kept away from the door and told him to not feed the wizard for a week. She had too much to do, and based on what Regina wrote, she needed help and she needed it fast. The Evil Queen was coming for her, again.


	7. What You Are Doing To Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bond between Emma and Regina gets deeper the more time they spent together. Also, Snow has an ally willing to help her with taking down the Evil Queen.

**Somewhere in the Enchanted Forest,**

"How far away are we from your castle?" Emma asked while stretching her back. After their heart to heart the two women decided to get back on the horse and head straight towards the Dark Kingdom.

Regina had calculated that it would take them approximately five more days to reach her palace, and although she was excited to see it, she felt a small sense of dread and dark memories glooming in. "5 more riding days if I am not mistaken." she whispered somberly.

Emma noticed the woman's hold on her hips had gotten tighter, not unpleasantly so, but clearly something was worrying her friend and that had her on edge.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Regina shrugged. "Talk about what Princess?"

"About what has you all worried." Emma said firmly.

"Nothing is wrong."

"Lie." the blonde said. "Try again."

"I insist." the older woman said exasperated. "I am well."

"Lie again." her internal lie-detector told her.

"You cannot possibly know that I am lying."

"Yes I can." Emma said seriously. "I have this superpower of sorts: I can tell when someone is lying to me, and you Regina have been doing so since I asked you what has you all worried."

Regina huffed in annoyance and accepted that there was no way she could evade this conversation. "I am afraid of what I will find the moment we reach the palace."

"I told you Regina, the White guards took all your personal belongings and have kept the castle locked ever since. For some strange reason, my mother didn't destroy the castle."

"She would have never done that: It was your grandfather's favorite one." she spat the last part of the sentence.

Emma flinched at the thought of Regina with an older man that definitely didn't love her. She had heard some peasants talk about King Leopold and Queen Ava's beautiful romance that ended in tragedy when the queen fell mysteriously ill and died weeks later. Heartbroken, the King dedicated his life to his daughter Snow White and gave her everything she wanted. Nevertheless, even with King Leopold's extravagant gestures, the little girl craved a mother's touch and love, one that she found when a sweet woman saved her from a crazy horse. The King, thankful for the woman's actions, and after watching how infatuated her daughter became with the brunette, decided to marry her and make her Queen and mother. The new Queen then moved with the royals and became a mother to Snow White, who was slowly becoming a beautiful and very lovable child. Jealousy consumed the Queen, and after hiring a genie, she covertly killed the King and took control of the kingdom. Snow White, who had been grieving her father's death, failed to realize that her stepmother wanted her dead and after escaping an assassination attempt, she became a bandit. The Queen, now revealed to be responsible for the King's death and with the control of his Kingdom, declared Snow White a traitor and sentenced her to death, earning herself the name of the Evil Queen. Emma knew that the tale her mother shared with her during her childhood was not true, and based on Regina's somber stance, she knew that something deeper, darker happened with his grandfather.

"Regina..." Emma said while taking one hand away from her horse's rein and placing it on top of the brunette's shoulder. "If I ask you something, would you tell me the truth?"

Regina tensed, somehow suspecting where Emma's line of thought was moving towards.

"We should focus on reaching a safe resting area." she avoided to answer.

"Regina." Emma whispered and got closer to the woman's body and felt warm waves move between them. "Please don't shut me out." she saw haunted brown eyes stare at her. "Please trust me?"

"I cannot promise you that the answer will be a pleasant one." the brunette gave up, too tired to keep discussing with Emma.

"Can you tell me your story?"

"I cannot believe Snow White never told you the story of the Evil Queen."

"She did." Emma answered and smiled sadly. "But I want to know the story of Regina Mills."

Regina looked down in embarrassment, feeling ashamed of her weakness and her unfounded fear. It had been so long and yet here she was shaking like a child and mumbling incoherent thoughts.

"I want to know the story of the intelligent and beautiful woman that I will help get her happy ending back."

Regina smiled softly. "Something that I still do not understand."

Emma chuckled. "What can I say? I am a tough person to figure out."

"Indeed you are." Regina stared deeply at Emma and got lost in her green eyes.

Something strange was happening with her; she was opening herself to a stranger who didn't feel like one at all. It was as if Emma was everything she needed in a person, and yet was independent enough to stand up to her and defy her. _Defy and help me,_ Regina thought and smiled warmly. Not once had Emma lied to her or said something that she didn't mean. In fact, every question she had asked the blonde woman had been honestly answered. Emma deserved the same.

"In order to understand how I found myself galloping towards a frightened young Snow White, you must first learn about my family's humble beginnings. My father was the 5th of 5 brothers and hence the one with the least possibility of becoming a King. My mother, unlike him, was a mere miller's daughter with dreams of royalty and grandeur. After successfully entering a royal party hosted by King Xavier, my grandfather, my mother stated that she knew magic and could transform straw into gold. Of course, she had no knowledge of how to do this, and when she was locked in the highest tower of the Kingdom and expected to have gold by the morrow, a powerful wizard appeared to her. This wizard offered her a deal: teach her how to turn the straw in exchange for her first child. My mother accepted, desperate to finally be recognized, and when the King saw the gold he offered her a marriage to his youngest child, my father. What none of them expected was the wizard falling in love with my mother and her falling in love with him. This worked to her advantage because now the wizard did not want her first born child, but _their_ first born child."

"Yet she was still meant to marry the Prince." Emma started to see where this story was going.

"Correct. And, blinded by her desire for power, but still desperately in love with the wizard, my mother used magic to get rid of the thing that was stopping her from saying no to him." she then looked at Emma and smiled dejectedly. "Her heart."

"That's impossible Regina. She would have died the moment it got out of her body."

"Not if it is done with magic." Regina reminded her. "Besides, you do know that I partook in the practice of it." she looked down in embarrassment.

"The woman who did that was the woman you were not the woman you are." Emma reminded her and Regina felt her heart swell in happiness.

"Without a heart you cannot feel love, and since she never had a child with the wizard, the terms of the deal were never met and the wizard disappeared from my mother's life. Nevertheless, since the moment she took her heart out she slowly started to lose her ability to love. At first she was content with her life, having riches and respect from the same people that had previously looked down on her." Regina whispered and she searched for Emma's hand and squeezed it. "But then it was not enough. She realized that King Xavier married her off to a man that would never have real power in his kingdom. So, the moment I was born, and having accepted that _she_ would never become a Queen, mother decided that her life goal would be to make _me_ the queen she never was."

Emma could feel Regina's pain, and hoping that her touch somehow brought any kind of support and relief to the older woman, she continued to lead Bug towards the forest, the two of them distracted by the witch's somber tale.

"But, as it usually happens with Fate, the daughter that my mother wanted was not the daughter she got." Regina smiled. "In fact, instead of caring about power and royalty, what young Regina wanted was to be free of her mother's control. You see, when one has a bird, it can never truly fly unless you set it free. By keeping it captured, you control the bird and what it does, which was what mother did with me: The people were scared of her magic and my father grew weak and terrified of her power. The man he had been got shaped into a coward that did her every bidding." she whispered sadly. "Even allow his wife to physically and mentally abuse her daughter. At first I failed to understand what was wrong with me, why mother was incapable of loving me for who I was. I blamed myself, and slowly grew to accept that love was an impossibility and that I should not expect to feel it from her. Until I met a young stable man who for some strange reason had been brave enough to apply for a job."

Emma smiled warmly at the older woman's reverent tone. It was obvious that she had loved this man deeply.

"Daniel was many wonderful things Emma." Regina kept a sad smile on her face. "But one thing that he could not do was face my mother's wrath, just as my father. The two persons I loved the most in the world were the same ones that could not free me from the misery I experienced and went through under my mother. When I reached my 16 years of age, mother decided that it was time for me to marry. My naïveté blinded me from her plans, and on one picnic I saw a young girl and her horse galloping through our land. Without a thought I jumped on top of mine and chased the girl who was close to falling down. That little girl was Princess Snow White, the daughter of King Leopold. Surprisingly, later that day we were visited by the King, and in a gesture that was meant to be seen as a token of appreciation, he asked for my hand in marriage. Numbed, my mother accepted for me, and the moment she did so it was the moment I decided to escape. I did not care about riches or power, the only thing I wanted was love and that meant being with Daniel. We devised a plan to run away from mother, and after sealing our marriage promise with a kiss, I saw that Snow White had seen the whole thing. A promise was made between the two of us when I explained to her the wonders of True Love." she huffed in annoyance and Emma cackled. "Wonders that were then crushed by mother when she took Daniel's heart and turned it to dust." she finished somberly.

"And without Daniel you had nowhere to run to, hence forcing you to marry the King." Emma whispered.

"I was miserable. I had to pretend to love someone when my heart was still mourning Daniel's death. Not only that, but the moment I became Queen I discovered that Snow White had told my mother about my plans to escape with Daniel. In fact, this had been the way she found out about our relationship and where we would be preparing for our departure."

"So because my mother was incapable of keeping a secret you lost your True Love?"

"Your mother, Miss Swan, has always been selfish and narcissistic. Her needs always came first."

"I won't even try to refute that because it is true." Emma said somberly.

"Alas, after we finished our vows and the guests left, I was informed that I had marital duties to fulfill as well."

"He didn't..." Emma said angrily. "Please tell me he didn't."

"I can't." Regina cried. "In all her lessons about etiquette and politics, mother never explained to me the duties a wife had to fulfill. I had no idea of how sex worked, what I was supposed to feel and how it would be. Although good to his daughter and his subjects, Leopold was the source of my nightmares until I finally killed him." she finished angrily. "Not only did he rape me night after night for months, but he also blamed me for not providing him with a child, a sibling for his daughter."

"I swear that were he alive I would kill him for you." Emma said darkly. "Did my mother know about this?"

"Yes, in fact, many times she witnessed the results of her father's ministrations."

"And with that fact known she still refuses to see how much she has wronged you?!"

"Your mother got taught that the duty of a Queen was to do the bidding of his husband. She is the exception to the rule because she is a first born, hence she has direct descendance to the throne."

"Right now I am so angry Regina." Emma was crying softly and Regina noticed it immediately.

"Why are you crying Emma?" she cupped the blonde's cheek. "I was the one that got the bad part of the deal."

"I am crying because for many years I have heard society judge you, attack you for your actions and yet not a single voice defend you when you have obviously experienced so much sorrow."

Regina's heart broke for the younger woman. "I deserve their judgment because I wronged them many times. The things I did have no justification."

"But it was my own family the one that destroyed your life." Emma stopped Bug and got down, quickly walking away from Regina.

"Emma, where are you going?" Regina followed her after leaving Bug tied up. "It is dangerous to walk alone in the forest."

Emma ignored her and just kept on walking forward, tears falling non-stop from her eyes. She couldn't listen to anything more, she couldn't understand how it was possible for Regina to be with her.

"Emma." the blonde saw purple smoke envelop her and felt strong arms hold her in place. "What do you think you are doing?!"

"What do I think?" Emma asked incredulously. "The question is what do you think you are doing? I mean, you know who I am, who my parents are and yet here you are talking to me as if there is nothing wrong."

"Because nothing is wrong."

"How can you even say that!" Emma screamed and surprised Regina. "God, do you know how painful it is to know that my family, the people I admired while growing up, have been the cause of most of your suffering? And not only that, but the fact that my mother, knowing her part in your past, still refuses to accept her responsibility for it?!"

Regina stayed rooted to the ground. Emma took advantage of this hesitation and continued her speech.

"Is this all part of a plan to get the ultimate revenge on my family? Not that they don't deserve it or that I wouldn't understand, but I just can't think of another reason for you to want my company. I mean, do you see Snow White's chin or Prince Charming's eyes when you look at me?" Emma spat angrily and got closer to the brunette. "Tell me now, because I will not be made a fool out of anyone." she grabbed the brunette's shoulders and squeezed them tightly, almost painfully. "I see so much pain in your eyes, so much suffering, and now that I know that my family was somehow responsible for it makes me feel disgusted with myself."

"You said it, it was your family, not you!" Regina screamed back and shook the younger woman, trying somehow to make sense of what had just transpired between the two of them. She could see Emma's lips tremble in anger, her eyes open in fear of rejection and yet clearly expecting it.

"I do not know why I want you to be so close to me." she murmured and looked down. "But I am sure that I want you here, with me. The moment I came out of nothingness I promised myself that I would change and not look for revenge. Not only that, but thinking of you in any kind of harm's way worries me. That..." Regina said firmly. "was one of the motives for my nerves: I do not know how people will react to us working together. In fact, I have always done things by myself because that way only I can get hurt. But having people with you, people you care about..." she whispered the last part and saw Emma staring deeply at her. "makes you weaker. Makes it easier for your enemies to retaliate and hurt you and at the end earn control over you. I know myself very well, Emma Swan, and one thing I have always failed to do is protect the people that are close to me."

Emma closed her eyes and took in everything Regina had just said to her. She knew it had all been true and she didn't need to use her lie detector to confirm that. In fact, the reason she lashed out at the older woman was because of self-disgust and pity. Disgust because she had grown-up admiring and loving people that made others miserable so that they could remain happy. She at first thought that it was ignorance, but now she was wondering if all of these mistakes were done out of malice. Her mother had been so desperate for a new mother that she had consciously kept a young woman captured in a loveless marriage, an abusive marriage. Then, she led her people to starvation and poverty so she could have an easy life. Finally, she tried to sell her daughter to the highest bidder to maintain said lifestyle. It was certainly ironic, and she didn't care how many times she would keep repeating this, that her mother was still seen as the hero of the story.

"Emma, for the love of everything that you hold dear, please answer me." Regina begged her when the silence lasted for too long.

Emma saw concerned brown eyes stare at her and this was when she completely lost it. She fell to the floor, and were it not for Regina she would have sported a huge bruise on her head. Instead, she fell under her knees with a strong lean body holding her close.

"I just don't understand." Emma was crying openly now. "What could possibly possess you to make you care about me? I am terrified right now, of what I could become. I mean, I am my parents' child, does it mean that I am meant to become like them? Become that selfish and self-absorbed? That no one comes above my needs and goals?"

"You are nothing like them." Regina whispered to her. "In fact, you are the most selfless person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting." she cackled softly. "Thankfully nothing alike your dreadful parents."

Emma chuckled. "I am sorry Regina." she whispered sadly.

"For what? For leaving when I told you not to? For questioning my path towards redemption? Or for ruining my favorite riding pants?" the brunette teased her.

"I guess for all of them?" Emma looked down.

"Emma..." Regina whispered and raised the woman's chin.

What Regina was going to say next got lost because an arrow suddenly landed on a tree near them and this made the two women separate from each other. Looking around for the person responsible, Emma felt herself get tense, suddenly needing any kind of weapon to protect Regina. Purple smoke enveloped her and Emma saw that she had her sword in one hand and a heavy metal shield in the other. Smiling softly in appreciation, she turned around and noticed that Regina was also now holding a sword. Smirking at the thought of the older woman knowing how to use it, she stood next to her and flinched when an arrow merely made contact with her head. Merely thanks to Regina who grabbed it with her hand and tossed it right back, confirming that it reached its target with the yell of a man.

"Shit, that's a cool trick." Emma complimented her and got a teasing smile in return. "I wonder who is stupid enough to shoot an arrow at me?"

"Really dear? Did you not hear what I just told you? People will attempt to hurt you because you are an ally of the Evil Queen."

"Yeah, still don't know who that woman is." Emma teased her. "And it seems that they also don't seem to know with whom they decided to mess with." she said firmly. "Do you feel their presence?"

"Yes." Regina simply replied. "I can feel 10 men surrounding us."

"Then I guess it's time you do your neat root trick and hold them in place. We don't want runaways."

Regina smiled evilly and nodded her agreement, purple magic immediately moving from her hands and surprising the men who had been anxiously waiting for any sign of retaliation. Emma then ran towards the man that was closest to her, and in a clear movement she disarmed him and knocked him out with a quick hit on top of his head. Smiling, she then dodged some really poorly aimed arrows and used her shield to barrel into the short man who had been firing at her. Avoiding a fist and a desperate kick, Emma gave one of her own in return and the man got knocked out cold. Turning around, she saw Regina in the middle of a fight with a tall man. Regina's advantage was that she was smaller and leaner, which made her move quickly around him. Still, the man's blows were strong and made the woman's hold on the sword slightly falter. Emma was making her way to her when a man jumped from one of the bushes and made her fall to the ground. More annoyed than hurt, she got up and saw him smugly smiling at her.

"What, too much of a pussy to attack a woman from the front?" Emma tainted him and his smile disappeared. "And I thought that between the two of us it was me the one who had one. Well, guess that makes me the one with the balls." she plunged his sword towards him and he barely had time to dodge the hit.

"You bitch!" the man bellowed and again tried to hit her.

Emma laughed and moved out of the way, which made him run straight towards a tree. With his sword stuck on it, Emma merely used her shoe and gave him a hard blow to the head, successfully taking him out of commission. Her attention then went again towards Regina, who had used her magic to raise from the ground and was now fighting the tall man evenly. He seemed confused by her movements, and in a move that would have made Emma lose her balance as well, Regina got his sword and threw it away. When the man still went towards her, she moved her hand and a rock landed on his face, quickly making him fall back.

Giving him one last look, Regina formed a fireball and threw it close to Emma, who had been too enthralled with the brunette's skills. Lucky for her, the woman noticed a man lurking from one of the trees and had stopped him before he got too close to the blonde. After this was done, she moved towards a group that was gathering their arrows. Smirking, she raised her hands and the bows turned to dust, earning some surprised and worried screams from the men. Two of them ran away, too afraid of the two women, but the other three remained in their places and got their swords out. At that point Emma had made her way towards her, and with a striking smile, she pointed at the two men of the left.

"Those are mine." she whispered.

Regina smiled. "Are you sure you do not want me to take two?"

"No, besides, you already got the tall one." she fake pouted. "Gotta let the rest of us have some fun."

The brunette laughed warmly and nodded in agreement. She was having so much fun and it seemed that Emma felt the same way. Too lazy to run, Regina raised her hand and pulled the man on the right towards her, who, unable to do something against her hold, merely moved in an attempt to free himself. Bored, Regina made him land straight on the back of her sword, the blow strong enough to render him unconscious. Emma simply made a run, and placing herself in the middle of the two them, she raised her left hand and magically got given another sword. Smirking, she fought the two men at the same time, slowly gaining on them and tiring them enough so their movements were becoming sloppy, which was what she was waiting for. When one of them made a desperate attempt to finish her, Emma simply moved out of the way and saw the man's sword land on his friend's leg. The two fell to the ground, one of them in extreme pain, and the other because of the contact. Emma used her sword to hit the injured one, feeling sorry for him.

"Now..." Emma looked at the man on the ground. "Who are you and what made you stupidly think that you would succeed in a fight against us? More specifically, who sent you?"

The man remained quiet, and looking towards Regina, she saw the brunette get closer to him and grab his face tightly.

"I know you..." she laughed loudly. "This, my dear, is Robin Hood, famous thief of the rich and savior of the poor."

"Really?" Emma asked in amazement. "This is the man that has managed to rob thousands of royal carriages? It was so easy to beat him." she smirked when she saw his angered face.

"The bow that he possessed had magic in it so that it would never miss its target. Too bad I turned it to dust." she said sarcastically. "But it is far more interesting his motives for attacking us. I have no money left and based on the fact that he tried to kill you, he did not care about the reward offered for you. So tell me." she squeezed his face strongly and Emma could see the marks that her nails left. "Who sent you?"

"Queen Snow White." he murmured darkly and saw Emma's surprised look. "Hurting you was not part of the deal, but we figured the moment you drew your sword to protect the Evil Queen that you had chosen your side."

"So now Snow White employs a band of known thieves to do her bidding?" she asked, amused. "This is certainly not the Snow White I knew 18 years ago."

"We are her Majesty's Elite Army." he spat offended."

"If this is the best Snow has to offer then us getting my kingdom back will not take too long." she smirked. "And I assume that being a member of Snow White's Elite Army does come with its own incentives?" she continued smiling. "Perhaps some sort of compensation for your services and duty?" Regina teased him and the man got red.

"We do it so we can save the kingdom from people like you!" he screamed and got a hit from Emma.

"You do not talk to her like that! The real scum here is you, and based on what I just heard, an opportunist that only thinks about himself. A man my manipulative mother would surely employ: Easy to keep under control, easier to dispose off."

"I knew that the guards were not lying when they said you went with the Evil Queen willingly. You were always a thorn to the kingdom, ungrateful and unthankful for the good life you got. Many died so you would be in that place and yet here you are, running around the forest with the woman that killed your grandfather as company." Robin spat. "I would have done the King and Queen a favor by killing you."

Emma would have done something were it not for the fact that Regina had gotten so close to him that the two of them seemed to be sharing the air they were breathing. She had never seen the woman this angry, and based on Robin's scared face, neither had he. In fact, a soft purple aura was emanating from her, enveloping the three of them and turning the air suddenly heavy.

"You will never be able to do something of the sort." she spat at him and used her magic to choke him. "I promise you, Robin Hood, that if I ever see you again, or worse, see you near Emma again, I will finish your miserable life, redemption path be damned." she made her magic hold on the man's throat tighter. "And send a message to dear Snow White: Tell her that I will see her on the battlefield and that next time she should make sure of sending someone that does not go against her orders." she finished and with one hand movement she made all the unconscious men disappear.

"Where did you send them?" Emma asked.

"To the dungeons of the Summer Palace." Regina smirked, but then she looked at Emma and saw that she was holding her arm.

"Emma, are you ok?" she whispered while grabbing her and looking around.

"Of course." Emma said surprised. "Why shouldn't I... Ouch!" she screamed when she felt cold fingers pinch at her underarm.

"It appears that a sword may have nicked you on your underarm."

"Barely felt it." Emma teased and saw purple magic surround the wound.

"There, all better." Regina replied.

Emma thought that the brunette was going to tell her something else, but instead Regina just stared at her deeply, longingly. It was not an uncomfortable position, and Emma could notice brown pupils becoming darker. Hesitantly, and hoping that she was not misreading the situation, she took one hand and placed it lovingly on Regina's cheek, immediately feeling the brunette leaning towards it. She closed her eyes too and marveled at the closeness that the two were now sharing. She had never felt this way, not once in her life, and now the only thing that she could imagine herself doing was being with Regina.

_This is crazy,_ her rational self told her, _you barely know her._ Her other self, the one she listened most to, said the opposite: _This feels so right, I know this is what I am supposed to feel like. This is where I am meant to be at._

Emma moved closer, and the lips that were near her hand moved too. She felt them moisten and after a couple of seconds plant a kiss on her hand, a kiss that left her breathless. Could this mean that Regina was feeling the same things she was feeling?

"I am." Regina whispered and the two women looked up, surprised and shocked.

"You are what?" Emma recovered first and stared at the older woman who seemed momentarily lost.

"Feeling." she simply answered and kissed Emma's hand again. "I do not understand it myself Emma, or how is it possible for me to be aware of your emotions. But I just know that I feel so many things for you. So many wonderful things." she whispered and smiled sadly. "But we cannot pursue this, whatever this is." she gave the blonde's hand one last kiss and started to move away.

"Wait, what?" Emma asked, completely shocked and confused. "I don't understand. You like me and I like you. Tell me why the hell we can't be something more." she demanded. "Is it because you see me as a child?"

Regina chuckled. "Darling, when I see you I see no child at all." she whispered darkly and Emma felt a tingling sensation on her stomach. "Which makes this..." she pointed at the two of them. "much harder."

"It doesn't have to be." Emma said and again flushed her body to Regina's. She heard the older woman's soft moan. "I know you want this as much as I do."

"I do." Regina choked. "But we can't Emma." she managed to say. "Please, do not do this to me."

"Do what?" she asked dejectedly.

"Do not let me fall in love with you." she whispered.

"If that is what it's meant to happen then who are we to stop it?"

"The people I love always leave me." Regina said sadly. "They die."

"Well, luckily for you I am an exception to that rule." Emma smiled.

"You do not know that." Regina said exasperated. "People will hunt you down, they will try to kill you based on what I feel for you."

"Ouch, you give me too little credit Regina: Some of them will come because of who I am and what I am doing." she joked and thankfully saw a small smile appear on the brunette's face.

"You are not taking this seriously enough. Besides, there are people that are so much better than me."

"Good for them." she simply replied. "I only want you Regina. But..." she then separated from the brunette and saw her staring longingly at her. "I will not force you if you really don't want it." she said while looking down.

"And that..." Regina said softly. "Is what makes you different from your family." she smiled. "And also what makes me like you so much."

"So much that you will be willing to give us a try?" Emma said hopefully.

"I am scared." the brunette whispered while approaching the blonde and holding her face determinedly. "But at the same time I am selfish enough to want you only for myself." she whispered while closing her eyes and inhaling the younger woman's scent. "Is that so terrible?"

Emma shook her head and closed her eyes when she felt Regina's lips linger on top of hers. "No one is stopping you from doing what you want." she murmured. "In fact, last time I checked, I was encouraging you."

Regina chuckled. "We should not do this."

Emma opened her eyes and what she saw in Regina's eyes made her lose her breath: It was as clear as day. This, what she felt in her heart, was not fabricated. In fact, she was sure that it felt like love. Smiling brightly she cupped the older woman's face so it would point directly to her lips.

"We should." Emma whispered and closed the distance between the two of them.

The moment Regina's lips fell on top of Emma's, a white magic poured out of them, making all the vegetation surrounding them sprout to life. Nevertheless, the women didn't notice this because they were solely focused on their lips crashing against the other. Emma had never felt something like this, the red lips that were on top of hers caressing and nibbling hers sweetly, lovingly. Although a strong and passionate woman, Regina's kiss were the opposite: The way she was kissing Emma made the blonde woman feel revered and treasured. Not only was she sucking and leaving small bites on her lower lip, but she was also warming her cheeks with her hands by moving them in nonsensical patterns. It was the most wonderful kiss the young woman had ever experienced, and based on the small moans that the brunette was attempting to hold, the feeling was reciprocated. Smiling cheekily, Emma took her tongue out and moved it on top of Regina's lips, asking for permission to deepen the kiss.

Regina felt her knees give up when Emma's tongue made way inside of her mouth. Perhaps because it had been so long since she last shared a kiss with someone, or because she was kissing someone she deeply cared about, maybe even loved. Still, there was no way to deny this attraction: She wanted Emma and the young woman wanted her too. She had tried to keep her feelings at bay, tried to keep herself away from the blonde that had strangely captivated and earned her care from the moment they met. Regina couldn't stop thinking that Fate had something to do with this, and a small part of her wanted to stay away from Emma because of that suspicion. At the same time there was the bigger, most powerful voice that told her to just let go: That to be with Emma was the way she would be able to protect her from any dangers. She was not lying when she admitted her fear of losing the people she loved and that Emma was slowly winning her heart.

_Let's be honest, the moment you lost the battle was when she looked at you with those deep green eyes._

It was then that Regina ended the kiss, watching Emma stare longingly at her lips, deep, steadying breaths required to stop herself from attacking those lips again. The brunette approached the blonde and hugged her tightly, happy at having her feelings reciprocated and terrified for having them so strongly.

"What are you doing to me, Emma Swan?" she whispered and kissed the blonde's neck.

"The same you are doing to me Regina Mills." she answered back and kept her hold on the shorter woman, her horse and their mission temporarily forgotten.

**Hours Earlier At the White Castle**

Queen Snow White left the dungeons in a haze and angrily made her way towards the gardens. It was one thing to have her daughter roaming freely around the kingdom and it was another to learn that her archenemy was still alive. More disturbing was the fact that someone lied to her 18 years ago when they told her that the Evil Queen had died after attempting to escape the soldiers. She huffed in despair, her long-time fears resurfacing with the news of her stepmother and daughter being together. These were definitely bad news, and based on the number of people that willingly helped the Evil Queen fight her men, measures had to be taken in order to ensure loyalty to the White Kingdom. Pointing to one of the guards that were on standby, she waited until he reached her side and told him to fetch Robin Hood. The thief had been an invaluable asset when she invited him to join the army: He was well known around the kingdom for helping the poor and to have his favor meant the support of those peasants that were thankful to him. Like every man, Robin Hood had needs and desires that a small amount of coin could satisfy, that way ensuring his loyalty and service in her army. She was not sure of how powerful Regina was, or if she still had her magic, but one way to find out was by sending Robin Hood and his Merrymen to go after them. They were not terrible, but they were not the best her army had to offer, which in turn made them expendable.

"You called your Majesty?" the man bowed and rose when Snow told him.

"Yes I did." she replied and walked around, expecting the man to follow. "Have you heard the rumors?"

"About the Evil Queen being alive and on her way to take your kingdom?"

Snow nodded. "With the apparent support and company of my own daughter." she tensed and spat the last word. "We cannot let them destroy everything that we built. We cannot let evil win."

"And we will not." Robin said solemnly and Snow smiled. "Tell me how can I help you Majesty and it will be done."

"I want you to go find the Evil Queen and capture her." she simply told him. "Many years have passed and most probably she lost all her powers with the destruction of magical beings." she knew this was a lie. "Which makes you and your Merrymen perfect for the job. If done correctly." the woman smiled at him. "You and your men will be rewarded handsomely."

Robin nodded in excitement. "And what about the Princess?"

"You will capture the Princess and bring her back. She has a marriage to go to." she murmured and with a hand movement dismissed the man.

"Very clever in telling the forest man that the Evil Queen had no magic." a voice said from behind her and made Snow turn in surprise.

"Well, only way he would willingly go and gather some intel for us."

"Indeed." the man smiled mockingly. "And where was your husband during these new developments?"

"Asleep." Snow simply replied. "Rather exhausted after all his worries were appeased."

The man smirked. "Good. He is a fool but an important one if we want to keep the people in our favor. News about the Evil Queen's return will travel quickly around the realm. Stopping her rebellion before it even begins is our best way to go."

"Which is why I chose the Merrymen to face her. Knowing my stepmother, she will think that I sent them based on ignorance and will surely desire to gloat by at least sending one of them back. The only thing we need to do is wait until it happens."

"That does sound like her." the man agreed and Snow smiled warmly.

"But I do wonder how you found out about this when I just learned these news a few hours ago?"

"Magic." he simply replied. "I felt a fluctuation in it, someone else making use of its lingering energy."

"So Regina does have magic." Snow muttered.

"How powerful that magic is I cannot be sure until I am in the same area she is." the man said while getting closer to the White Queen. "But I promise you that I will not let her take your kingdom away from you."

Snow nodded and quickly moved the two of them away from the gardens. After a couple of minutes she found a deserted hall, and without a care the woman turned him around and desperate lips landed on top of his. She heard Snow moan when his hand landed on her buttock, and for minutes the two of them moved and glided with each other, devouring lips and holding back moans. Too soon for Snow's liking, the man separated from her and created some distance between the two of them.

"It is not very clever to do this in plain view." he whispered while cupping her chin lovingly. "What if a guard or someone else took notice and told your husband?"

"I no longer care for my husband: He is a weak man that is not willing to do whatever it takes to keep me from losing my kingdom. You, on the other hand, have been helping me since I spared your life many years ago."

"A very smart decision if I may say so."

Snow smirked and kissed him roughly again, not caring about hurting or leaving marks on him. "I merely did what you suggested me to do at that time, which was what ultimately convinced me on my intentions to let you live."

"And what was that?" the man smiled darkly.

"You don't need anyone's approval. Whoever made you feel that you were flawed or unworthy, you need to take that pain, the fear that they were right, and use it as the root of your power. A power that will give you freedom." Snow told him and the man responded with a hard kiss.


	8. Hidden

**Somewhere in the Enchanted Forest**

"So you can stop arrows with your hands..." Emma said while giving Bug a soft nudge. "You can change wardrobe, create balls of fire, use nature, you can move objects, you can transport yourself and others from one place to another... Am I missing something else?"

Regina smirked. "The possibilities of magic are endless because magic is all around us. In the air, the trees, inside of you and me. The only difference is that I choose to use and shape this magic so that it aids me. Basically, the more imagination you have the more spells you can learn and use."

"So anyone with a good enough imagination could create magic."

"Magic, like energy, is not created nor destroyed: It is merely changed. In our realm there are different types of magic: The magic I employ comes from the ancient elves. It is a mixture of emotion and essence, and by essence I mean a person's capability to perform magic. Certain people have certain aptitudes that makes them capable of performing magic at different levels."

"At different levels? I'm afraid I still don't understand."

"Not even I understand it fully and I have been learning magic since I was 17 years old." Regina smiled softly. "Humans with magic inside of themselves are capable, with easiness, to use their emotions to transform the energy. The result, light or dark magic, comes from their choices and how they have used their magic. There are other individuals who do not have magic, hence they cannot transform it by themselves. So, what they do instead is use spellbooks to absorb magic by chanting incantations. There are also others who started their existence as humans, but thanks to magical objects, were able to become magical beings." Regina smiled warmly at the blonde woman and gave her a tender kiss on the cheek. "But all of them are nothing in comparison to the power of True Love."

"The power of True Love?" Emma teased her a little and enjoyed the way Regina's body melted into hers. "If I didn't know any better I would say you are a hopeless romantic."

Regina laughed softly and hugged her lover, ecstatic at being able to do this so openly and see Emma accept all of her gestures so willingly.

"Usually I tend to lean more towards the pessimistic side of romance." she confessed. "But it is impossible for me to deny the power of True Love: It can break any curse. In fact, you have been a witness to the living proof of that statement with your parents' marriage." she teased the blonde but instead of getting a smile in return she got a grimace. "What troubles you, my sweet Emma?"

Emma turned around and saw brown eyes staring deeply at her, concern obvious on her lover's face. She had felt so alive when Regina kissed her, and for a while she had forgotten about the Merryman's words. But, after the two of them agreed on simply camping in that spot for the rest of the day, her mind had been plagued with the words he spat at her. Of how ungrateful and selfish she had been to her parents and her kingdom. Could it be true that the reason she felt so abandoned by her parents was because she never tried to belong?

"Nothing Regina." Emma answered softly.

"Did you know that there is a rather adorable trait that you have and that I simply adore?"

Emma smiled deviously. "Oh really? And what trait would that be?"

"When you lie, or hide something to me, your nose twitches from left to right. It is a very hard tell to see if you are not looking for it."

The blonde blushed and looked down in embarrassment. She had just been caught lying to the woman that had opened up her heart to her a day earlier and this is how she was repaying that trust? No, Emma had to do something about it and for once allow someone other than herself to see her pain and long hidden resentment towards her parents.

"I was just wondering if what that man said about me was true." she whispered and saw a surprised look from Regina. "Was it really selfish of me to want a life of my own?"

"Of course not." the brunette tried to calm her.

"Then why do I feel that them not loving me is my fault? I mean, they have True Love!"

"With each other." Regina smiled sadly. "That love cannot be felt or reciprocated by another individual that is not their soulmate. But that does not mean that they cannot love more than one person. Your feelings towards them are justified and even if they were not, no one should force you to explain or question them."

"I always believed that the best way I could live my life was by being honest with myself and others. And right from the start I knew that my mother's plans were not the same ones I had." Emma smirked softly at Regina. "A thing we seem to have in common."

Regina smiled. "Indeed we do Miss Swan."

"I like that you call me that way and not Emma White."

"Are you ashamed of your heritage?" Regina asked.

"If you would have asked me this question 2 weeks ago I would have said no. Now I'm not so sure of that answer. Everything I have learned since I left the palace only confirms to me that the parents I knew during my childhood became something completely different as I grew up. That, or I was fooled by them until the time that they simply didn't care about keeping the charade up." Emma shrugged and it broke the brunette's heart to see the usually exuberant woman feel like this.

"Well, Emma Swan, I for once am rather thankful for your parents' terrible parenting skills. Were it not for that, we probably would have never met."

Emma smiled brightly, and stopping Bug she turned her head around and kissed Regina. She smirked when the older woman closed her eyes and responded, feeling butterflies in her stomach and warmth spreading around her body. She would never get tired of the older woman's lips for they seemed to taste like apples and cinnamon.

"And you say that you are not a romantic person." Emma said while separating from the brunette and chuckling when the older woman blushed profusely.

"It seems that you bring to the surface that side of me." Regina mumbled and earned points with Emma, who again stopped the horse and planted another strong, long kiss that only got stopped because of Bug's whinning.

"He is going to throw us if you keep forcing him to stop." she teased Emma who shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well, Bug knows that were he to do so then there will be no more treats for him." Emma answered while patting his best friend. "Isn't that right?" she kissed his mare.

"I once also had a horse as loyal as yours." Regina said softly. "His name was Rocinante and he was beautiful. Apart from Daniel, he was my only company during my time in my parents' state. In fact, it was my father the one who gave him to me when I was 5 years old." she smiles sadly. "We grew up together and he accompanied me until I became the Evil Queen." she didn't notice the tears that were falling from her eyes until Emma kissed them away. "I was in such a dark place during that time, so lost and desperate that I destroyed all the things that I loved for a chance at a new beginning for me."

"The Dark Curse." Emma said knowingly.

"I knew that my happiness would not occur in this realm, and because the Dark One made a deal with your parents where I would not be capable of hurting them in the Enchanted Forest, he offered me another option: a curse that would take all of us to another land. One with no magic."

"But with magic there is always a price." the blonde murmured.

"The price of this curse was the heart of the thing I loved most." Regina whispered and smiled sadly. "And although I failed to cast the curse I still paid the price."

"I'm so sorry Regina." the blonde said honestly and hugged her lover tightly. "Although it certainly does help that you failed because maybe we would have never met in this other realm."

"Do you really think so?" Regina teased her softly and pushed her hand forward so it would touch the young woman's chest. "Because something makes me suspect that no matter where or when we would have ended up, the two of us meeting would have been inevitable."

"Like destiny?" Emma asked. "I thought you didn't believe in destiny."

"I did not." Regina smiled. "But with all the recent events we have gone through, it does seem that Fate has taken a personal interest in us and our story."

"You have never told me what you discussed with Fate during your time in Limbo." Emma said.

Regina looked at her lover and smirked in agreement. Emma was far too curious for her own good and she found the action too endearing. This, in return, meant that it was almost impossible for Regina to deny Emma of acquiring new knowledge. Knowledge that of course came through her and her dark past. One that had been manipulated by the Imp who had obviously tricked everyone in the realm in order to get his son back.

Now that she thought about him, she still didn't know if he was alive or dead. To forget about him was a careless action of her, specially since he is the only one that could stand against her in her way towards happiness. Besides, it also didn't help that the man believed that he would always own her.

"Emma..." the brunette whispered and Emma noticed the way her lover's tone changed from sarcasm to fear. "I have to ask you some questions about the Sorcerers' War. About some people that would have been targeted by this war."

Emma nodded in agreement.

"During my time as the Evil Queen I gained the hatred of many magical beings. Not to boast, but after the Dark One, I was the most powerful sorcerer in the Enchanted Forest. Because of this, I usually took advantage of the other less powerful individuals and in return earned their hatred. Of course, during that time they did nothing but mentally throw daggers at me because of my position. But now I am not the same despicable woman I was before." she then looked at Emma and closed her eyes. "And now I have more to lose than before."

"You don't have to give me the whole 'I have changed' speech every single time we talk about your past." the blonde woman smiled and gave her a crushing hug. "Besides, as I keep telling you, there is nothing to forgive. So go ahead and ask me what you want to know."

"I want to know about two sorcerers that hated me. One of them was a witch with transfiguration abilities and the other one was Rumplestiltskin."

"Rumplestiltskin? What kind of weird name is that?"

"You may know him as the Dark One."

"But you said that the Dark One was the person who gave you the curse."

"Only to help himself." she replied angrily. "He wanted to go to this magicless land so he could find his long lost son."

"Then why didn't he make the sacrifice of the thing he loved most?"

"Because he has always been selfish and manipulative. Why mess your own hands when you can get someone else to do the hard labor for you?"

"He knew you would be desperate enough to cast the curse." Emma realized after a short pause.

"He knew me." Regina simply replied. "Because he was the one that trained me."

"You were the Dark One's apprentice?" Emma asked in complete shock.

"At first I only knew him as Rumpelstiltskin. It was years later when I realized that he was no friend of mine."

"How did he find you?" Emma asked. "I mean, of all the women in this realm, why did it have to be you?"

"Because he is Rumplestiltskin and he never fails to collect what was promised to him on a deal."

"But how could you have made a deal with him before even meeting him?"

"I was not the one who made the deal." Regina smiled sadly and this is when Emma realized what the brunette woman was trying to tell her.

"He is the wizard that offered to help your mom. The one she tricked so she could become a Princess." Emma said and Regina nodded. "That is seriously fucked up!"

"Indeed." Regina replied tersely. "And you know, the most ironic part was that I was the one who summoned him: I wanted help so I could get rid of my mother and he offered that help. After that I promised myself that I would stop using magic. You see, I was terrified of becoming like my mother and stupidly believed that I would not fall on the same path." she laughed darkly. "Obviously the apple did not fall far from the tree. Unlike her, I managed to kill my own father and her of course."

"Wait, your mother is dead?" Emma asked.

"After I banished her to another realm, I realized that it was not a real solution because she retaliated by kidnapping my father. I knew she would never let me be free from her influence or presence no matter where she was." Regina closed her eyes. "So I hired an assassin to go to her realm and take her heart out. And he succeeded." she finished and waited for Emma's reaction. She knew this was the moment Emma would either stay or finally do what she had expected her to do a long time ago and run away.

"Your mother caused you a lot of pain and I understand why you had to do what you did." Emma whispered and Regina raised her eyes in complete shock. "By saying this I'm not congratulating you for what you did, but after all you have told me about her I am happy she can no longer hurt you."

Regina laughed and this earned her a shocked look from Emma.

"Oh Emma!" she whispered vehemently and grabbed the woman's face roughly. "When I think you will do something you surprise me by doing the exact opposite. Each time I share one of my secrets with you I expect you to get on your horse and leave me. But instead here you are letting me kiss you." she murmured as she got closer to Emma and possessively took her lips. "No one." she looked at Emma. "Has ever accepted all of me like you do." she kissed Emma again. "Like you keep doing and I hope continue to do with the passing of time." she finished and again took Emma's lips and caressed them longingly with her tongue.

Emma was blissfully confused. She knew how much it meant for Regina to feel accepted. At the same time, she realized that Regina didn't expect her to forgive what she did in the past but merely understand why she did it and accept it as a part of her. Emma knew this because she wanted the same thing from the brunette: She wanted Regina to understand how sorry she felt for indirectly being responsible for her unhappiness and yet know that at the same time she is too selfish to desire someone else to be with her. She wanted Regina. No, that was not right: She _needed_ Regina as much as she needed to eat and sleep. It was terrifying, the level of commitment that she felt towards the brunette when previously Emma would have been considered a runner: She never got involved, she always wanted to have fun and move from one place to place in search of new challenges. But with Regina she didn't need to run or move somewhere else because Regina herself was an adventure that she wanted to live and explore. The woman was a mystery that intrigued and got Emma deeper involved: The way she seemed to shelter and hide her true emotions in case someone used them against her or the way she openly expected rejection and was surprised when that was not the case. How she pretended to despise everything involved with love and yet she believed in True Love and probably dreamed of having it. How she pretended that words didn't hurt her and yet the pain she felt from the people who were supposed to protect her was still visible in her brown eyes. 

Well, Regina would no longer have to feel those things because Emma promised herself that no matter what Regina would always come first. But by coming first she understood that it was not going to be in the typical way of sacrificing herself so the brunette would live, but the way where the two of them would either live or die together. One thing Emma knew very well about Regina was that no matter what, abandoning her would be the worst thing that one could do to the older woman. So her choices were pretty simple in order to keep Regina happy: Not sacrificing herself to keep her safe, or not trying to keep her away from a fight. Besides, in all the stories Emma had read one could clearly see that when the hero withheld information from her allies the action caused more harm than gain.

"I told you Gina, nothing you do will make me want to be away from you." Emma gasped while smiling at the older woman's enthusiasm.

"I think I am starting to believe that." Regina finished her kiss attack with an Eskimo kiss.

"So, what were we talking about before your wonderful lips landed on top of mine?" Emma teased her and the brunette blushed.

"The Dark One and whether he is still alive. I last saw him the day of the curse, before I went to finish the ritual. I went to see him. Well, actually gloat." Regina seemed embarrassed. "And he was bound in a magical prison under the Summer Palace."

"Because he got captured with fairy magic when he tried to steal Cinderella's unborn child." Emma finished for her.

"So that is how they finally caught him." Regina mused mostly to herself. "And then what happened during the war?"

"All magical beings inside the kingdom were killed, no exceptions." Emma said confident.

"Are you sure? It would not be the first time the Imp managed to avoid death by making a deal."

"Well, unless my parents wanted retaliation from the other kingdoms then they had to kill every sorcerer they knew about."

"And Maleficent?" Regina decided to just let it be. She wanted to believe what Emma told her but she knew her master's antics very well and suspected that he didn't just allow anyone to kill him.

"The witch that poisoned Briar Rose and sent her to an eternal slumber?"

"Yes, she was a friend of mine a long time ago." Regina smiled softly. "In fact, I went to her in a moment of desperation and she helped me realize that the best revenge comes from taking away the things your enemy loves the most." she noticed Emma's smirk and blushed. "Not that I am planning on using that strategy again but it is a rather effective one."

"I'm just messing with you." Emma laughed.

"Well, you have a rather dark sense of humor dear." Regina reproached the younger woman but it turned out quite ineffective because she did it while smiling.

"Yeah, people never seemed to get it." Emma shrugged. "I think only Red laughed with my jokes."

"Red?"

"My godmother, Red Riding Hood." Emma clarified.

"The werewolf. Tell me dear, what did she have to say when Snow accepted to get involved in the Sorcerers' War?"

Emma tensed. "She was furious, and still until today has not forgiven my mother for betraying all their magical friends. You see, when it came to securing the throne after you were gone, my mother used the support of werewolves, shape-shifters and fairies alike. It was because of them that the White dynasty recovered the kingdom from your Dark guards. They were rather faithful." Emma added as an afterthought.

"Although I was desperate for revenge, I would like to believe that I was a good ruler: I rewarded loyalty and respected the people that respected me too. Was I severe with my punishments? Yes, but at the same time I was fair in giving them."

"I know." the young woman told her. "I read all about it in your books. I read all of them." she blushed and looked down in embarrassment.

Regina smiled evilly and got closer to the woman's ear. She knew what books she had in her library, and some of them were not exactly children material. In fact, basing herself on the way Emma was blushing, she had read them too and was now embarrassed by it.

"After I killed Leopold I had no idea of what to do." Regina whispered and Emma held her breath. "You see, for years I had been under his orders and whims. I had never been free, never enjoyed the royal life and the many advantages one had while being a royal. Since I was a widow, no one expected me to get married, merely keep the throne warm until your mother came of age. I knew that the moment I lost the kingdom I would have no chance of getting my revenge, so I started to gain followers inside the royal army. The many knights that fought with your grandfather were retiring, reason why it was easy for me to replace them with my own." she moved her tongue on top of Emma's ear. "But I bet you know all of this. I wrote all about it in my journals."

Emma shivered and felt an uncomfortable pain in her stomach. She knew what was happening to her, she had read about it and attempted to feel this with many of her 'companions' but they were all failed attempts. Now, it didn't take Regina much to make her heart rapidly beat in her chest, her cheeks blush brightly and her body to feel hot and bothered.

"But that is not all you read, right?" Regina smiled cheekily. "In fact, I remember writing about other things in those journals. _Private_ things." she emphasized on the word.

Emma held her breath. Regina knew what she read and she was not going to let it go until she confessed. Still, the blonde was stubborn and was not going to let the older woman win this little tête-à-tête.

Regina smirked when she felt Emma stretch her back and control her breathing. This was too easy and it charmed the brunette to know how much the younger woman wanted her. She would have probably been upset had someone else been the one that read her journal, but it was Emma and the woman had already won her heart. Besides, she knew almost everything about her so, what did it matter that she also learned about her sexual adventures.

"I am not mad at you for reading them." Regina continued. "In fact, I am curious about which one you liked the most."

"Regina!" Emma shrieked and the older woman cackled.

"Do not be a prude Emma Swan: Besides, you were the one that read my journals." she smiled brightly but let the subject go. They had to discuss more important things. "Anyway, you were telling me about your godmother."

"Yes, I was." Emma fake glared at her. "She distanced herself from my mother after the war ended and has stayed in the castle with her grandmother because she is despised and seen as a traitor by the remaining magical beings. She knows that the only reason her grandmother and her are alive is because of their relationship to Snow White. Besides, not all the people that were close to Snow White survived."

"What do you mean not all of them?"

"Blue got killed the moment the war began." Emma whispered. "Since she was the leader of the fairies she led a group of magical beings against the royal armies and lost. Although I know that Blue was a shady fairy and had her own hidden agenda, to me she was completely wonderful: She taught me about Fate, about its power and how they could change things. She taught me the wonders of magic and how magic was all around us. I was heartbroken when I found out that she had been killed by my mother's army. Not only that, but most of the dwarves also perished during the war. At first they were being spared by Snow White because of her relationship with the Seven Dwarves. But when some of them decided to join the rebellion and fight against the White Kingdom, Snow White punished all of them by taking their magic away and making them work in the castle as slaves."

"That is horrible." Regina said complete shocked. One thing was to see Snow White employ thieves. Another one was to learn that she backstabbed the same people that had helped her recover her crown. "That does not sound at all like the Snow White I knew."

"Because she changed." Emma said dejectedly. "I remember a mother that excitedly taught me how to hunt and follow trails in the forest with my father behind us. From one day to another, the riding and archery lessons became politics of the realm and etiquette education. She was so carefree during her first years in power, but something happened to her that made her become a cold and calculating woman. I don't understand it."

"Power can corrupt all individuals, even the ones with the purest heart." Regina told the blonde while grabbing her hand and squeezing it. "I am afraid that it is the curse of every ruler to lose their humanity once they gain control of all."

"Then why not have something else?

"Then all will have power and total chaos will occur. The problem with having power is that in order to control it best one has to share it with others, create limitations that stop you from abusing it. Councils are there in order to be the voice of the people, the voice of reason between royalty and peasants. A balanced council with strong-minded leaders can create stable and powerful kingdoms. The worst people that one can put in a council are the ones that only care about themselves and their riches. These people will do nothing to protect the most needed ones. Instead, they will think of their individual interests and try to pass them as common ailments."

"And that is what happened with the White Kingdom." Emma murmured darkly. "We need to earn it back and make things right Regina."

Regina nodded in agreement. Still, they were at a disadvantage because Emma was not close enough to her mother or the daily events that happened inside the castle. They needed someone who could tell them information about the White Queen and her castle. They needed a person that had been right next to Snow White after the war ended and still remained at her side.

They needed Red Riding Hood.

**At the White Kingdom**

Red was quickly making her way around the halls of the White castle. She had just come back from another trip around the forests and still no sight of her goddaughter. It was so frustrating to see no one truly cared about her or if she was well. In fact, she had tried to leave her pride and resentment aside and talk to Snow about the situation only to hear her seduce her husband so he would leave things just as they were. Disgusted by all of it and by her old friend's actions, she angrily went to Granny's room and punched the wall until her hands bled. She had told the older woman everything that she heard Snow say and how little she cared about the blonde girl. She couldn't understand why Snow was so desperate to marry her off to a man who everyone knew spent his nights at a bar drinking himself to oblivion and hiding his face inside women's skirts. She would never make Emma come back here if that was the man her mother was forcing the young woman to marry. In fact, the reason she had been leaving the castle so much was because she wanted to make sure that Emma was alright. The rumors spreading around the village were about Emma being with the Evil Queen, which didn't do anything to appease the wolf-woman. Although it had been shocking to know that the witch had spared Emma's life and protected her from the White's guard, she still felt that something was amiss. Not only that, but the fact that the woman was alive when she had seen her dead, cold body lie on a hay of fire certainly terrified her. Granny had told her to be careful with her journeys to the forest since many Dark Army and magical beings were surely making their way to the Dark Kingdom since the Evil Queen promised to be there in a week. The royal council of the White Kingdom was at an uproar by the huge mass movement that this summoning caused, and Snow White had not been shy about showing the consequences of insubordination. In fact, a public execution had been stopped by two men that changed into their Dark guards armor and had decided to charge the executioner. Barely making it alive, the two men and the freed prisoners entered the forest and Red decided to hide them in her shelter until they recovered. Snow White meanwhile had been on a murderous rampage, screaming orders at her captains and demanding updates about her daughter's position. Nevertheless, the Evil Queen was good at evading known routes or tracking devices thanks to her magic, which only managed to infuriate the White Queen even more.

It was with these thoughts that Red found herself in one of the hidden corridors of the Summer Palace. She smiled sadly at the memory of Emma discovering it while playing hide and seek with her. The girl had a talent for finding places like this and it only made the brunette miss her goddaughter even more. Red was actually moving out of the hiding spot when she heard voices approaching. Deciding to stay behind the wall, she saw through a hole that it was Snow White and one of the royal advisors who were making their way towards the dungeons.

"So he is back?" she heard Snow White ask the man. "Did she kill the others?"

"She didn't." the man replied to her. "They were all injured and knocked out but other than that completely fine."

"Too bad." Snow muttered. "She would have done me a favor by getting rid of these men."

Red silently moved behind the hidden wall, keeping her steps as short as possible and taking the necessary air so she would not make any kind of noise. It disturbed her so much to hear the woman who had refused to kill Regina so many times speak of soldiers and followers in such a despicable and non-caring way.

"Has he spoken to anyone else?" Snow asked the man.

"No, we got notified the moment he appeared in a purple cloud."

"Good. I don't want people to know that he faced the Evil Queen and lost. It would only cause panic."

"But he will surely speak the moment we let him go your Majesty. You know how these men of the forest are and how tongue loose they can get after a couple of drinks."

"Which is why I don't plan on letting him go."

"Of course your Majesty." the man said while opening the door for her and entering the dungeon.

Red saw that they walked to the bottom of the cells, not taking one glance around them. Thankfully Emma and her had discovered that the hidden path allowed them to enter the dungeons too, strange as that sounds. Emma had explained to her that it was a way in which soldiers could learn about the prisoners' weaknesses while they believed that they were alone. A smart but terrifying technique.

"Mr. Robin Hood." Snow said mockingly. "It seems that your army was defeated."

"She had magic." he explained while coughing. "Powerful magic your Majesty. And your daughter also fought next to her."

Red jumped at the mention of Emma. It seems that the Evil Queen and her were truly as close as the villagers were whispering.

"No daughter of mine would consciously betray me in such a way." Snow spat angrily.

"I thought so too, and after we were defeated by them, the Evil Queen decided to send us back so we could give a message to you."

"And what was this message?"

"She told me to tell you that she will see you on the battlefield and that next time you should make sure of sending someone that does not go against your orders."

"Against my orders in what way?" Snow cautiously asked.

"I did what you told me to do your Majesty: I went to kill the Evil Queen but when your daughter got in the way and injured my men I had to do something about it: I had to make her pay the price for such insubordination." Robin said while puffing his chest.

Red froze in fear. Emma had been attacked by these men and she could be injured.

"What do you mean by this?" Snow asked coldly.

"I told my men to kill her the moment she showed allegiance towards the Evil Queen." he then huffed in anger. "But the Evil Queen protected her."

Red exhaled, completely relieved at knowing that her goddaughter was alright.

"My orders were to kill the Evil Queen and bring my daughter back." Snow said darkly. "And here you are telling me that you tried to kill her? Luckily for you, your group of men are so incompetent that you failed at your task. I need my daughter alive so she can marry Prince Killian and here you go trying to kill her." the Queen then looked towards the man standing next to her and smirked. "My, my, what should I do in face of this direct disobedience?"

"Disobedience?!" Robin yelled. "I was doing my duty as a member of your Elite Army.

"One that you obviously failed. In fact, it's quite disappointing to see that my stepmother spared all of your lives. She probably did this in order to annoy me." she turned around and smiled darkly. "It appears that we have to fix this small mistake."

"Indeed." the man retorted while getting closer to the cell.

"Wait, what are you doing?!" Robin screamed. "Get away from me. Queen Snow!"

"Don't 'Queen Snow' me." she huffed in annoyance. "We cannot let you or your men talk about what happened. You see, it would cause panic in the kingdom and we must certainly avoid this. Think of this as part of your duty: You will keep the peace and order in the kingdom."

"Please don't! I have a wife and a child!" the man started crying.

"Then good thing that I will not try to kill them just as you tried to kill my daughter!" she screamed and with one motion the man in royal clothes tore the man's heart out of his chest.

Red barely managed to hold the scream that almost came out of her. She saw in complete fear how with a flicker of his wrist, darkness poured from the man's finger to the already dark heart of Robin Hood. With a loud gasp that meant that the organ was inside the thief, the two royals smirked at the man.

"Now, the moment we leave this room you will see that your cell with be left open and a knife will be in your hand. With this knife you will kill your fellow Merrymen and yourself. Do you understand?" Snow told him and the man nodded.

"Good, then our business here is done." Snow smiled and took the royal man's hand, not even glancing back when they closed the door.

Red finally moved the moment they left, her heart maniacally beating on her chest, trying to deny what she just saw happening. Nevertheless, the moment she heard screams coming from the cells she realized that it was all real. Not wanting to see the massacre, Red ran out of the dungeons and tried to head away from this damned hallway. She didn't know what to do, but one thing was clear: The Snow White she knew many years ago was gone and there was no way they could reason with this one. She had to find Emma and keep her away from this damned place. Not only had Snow just told members of her army to kill each other, but she was in the company of a magic being. Snow had told her that no magic wielders survived and yet there they were, the two royals whispering and kissing each other. Wait, KISSING? Red stopped her pace for the second time that night and saw in complete shock how the White Queen was humping and moaning without shame.

 _This cannot be true,_ Red felt tears fall from her eyes. _This cannot be Snow White,_ she whispered to herself and refused to see any more. Ever since the two women met, Red had seen her friend fall in love with Prince Charming and fight for said love. The two of them even shared True Love, the most powerful magic of all. _Or shared,_ the wolf-woman told herself after remembering the way her friend had used sex to subdue her husband into submission.

The moment Red arrived to her room she quickly grabbed a bag and took out some of her clothes so she could place them inside. She continued moving around the room, taking potions and weapons that she had kept from the Sorcerers' War. She couldn't spend another day in this castle, and unless she wanted to be the next one on her ex friend's list of murdered allies, she had to take Granny and run far away from there. The plan was clear; find Emma and hide until all of this passed. No one in the magical community trusted her or her Granny, and she had no ties with the Dark Kingdom that could help her enter it and peacefully live there if Regina's rebellion was successful.

"Child, what are you doing packing so many things?" she heard Granny ask her from behind.

"We have to leave the palace." she told the older woman and showed her the other bag she had been making for her. "It's dangerous for us to be here."

"What are you talking about Red?"

"I just saw Snow White kill Robin Hood." she whispered loudly and looked around expecting someone to barge in.

"That's impossible dear." Granny tried to calm her. "Perhaps you had too much to drink?"

"No Granny! Damn it, she sent the Merrymen to the forest so they could get intel about the Evil Queen and her powers. What they found out was that her magic is strong and that Emma is with her. Helping her!"

"The girls must obviously be under a spell." Granny said.

"I don't think so Granny." Red murmured. "Knowing Emma, she is quite capable of allying herself with her mother's mortal enemy so she can earn safe passage around the Enchanted Forest. Besides, that way she doesn't have to come back and get married."

"That does sound like the Emma we know." Granny smiled softly and took her crossbow from under the bed. "But if you are so sure about this then I will trust you."

"Thank you Granny." she said and continued to pack.

Half an hour later, the two women covertly moved around the castle, hiding away from the guards that were on patrol. They had agreed on not telling anyone about their departure so the moment anyone noticed their absence they would not be sure of how many days it had been since the two left the palace. They almost got caught three times when the guards heard their footsteps, but thankfully they assumed that it came from their fellow men and ignored it. The moment the two women saw the gate of the castle, they exhaled in relief, and after they were safely inside the forest, they relaxed their pace and took a resting walk.

"So, what is your plan child?" Granny asked her.

"We will find Emma." Red said determined. "And depending on what we find, we will either join her or force her to leave with us. After that I am not sure."

"I think child that it's time we make amends with our people." Granny murmured. "It's time we pay for our betrayal. I haven't been able to think about something else since we accepted Snow White's deal and remained hidden in her castle."

"I know." Red looked down in embarrassment. "So are you saying then that you want to fight for the Evil Queen?"

"I want to fight for the person that is willing enough to rise against the White Kingdom." Granny said determinedly and Red nodded in agreement.

They had to find Emma and Regina and they had to find them fast.


	9. Discoveries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red and Granny find Emma. They were definitely not expecting to meet the blonde and the former Evil Queen in such a position.

When the two women entered the next village, Emma grew weary and concerned. The last time they had entered a town they were almost caught by the royal guards, and based on the way the villagers were moving and behaving, this place was no exception to the soldiers' presence. But still the blonde woman could not think of nothing other than last night. Regina and her had been talking about their past, remembering the scarce but still good times that they had. What they both had noticed was that the two of them were usually happiest while being on top of a horse, jumping obstacles and making it run as fast as possible. Smirking at the thought of how similar they were, Emma had gotten closer to Regina and had taken her hand, brushing it softly against her own. The gesture, in return, earned her an adoring smile while soulful brown eyes stared lovingly at her.

_(Flashback to the previous night_ )

"With each new thing that I learn about you I find myself falling more for you." Emma confessed after gaining some courage.

Regina looked up in surprise at the blonde's words but still gave her a radiant smile. "Falling more?" she teased. "And since when have you been 'falling'?"

"Since the moment I almost killed you with my horse." Emma answered honestly.

Regina laughed loudly and turned her body so it would be aligned with the young woman's. Smirking at the way Emma closed her eyes, she teased her by moving her lips close enough so that at the moment she spoke they would lightly touch the ones of the blonde.

"Well, you are not alone in this endeavor."

Emma opened her eyes. "Really?"

Regina stopped her teasing and joking around when she saw how serious Emma was. How her eyes were shining with hope and desperation to also be deeply wanted and loved. She knew that look because she had that same look when she was in love with Daniel and had wanted him to feel it back. Or when Regina thought that she was in love with him. The reason she said thought was because while her feelings for Daniel were still there, they were nothing in comparison to the ones she was currently having for Emma. These ones were deeper, stronger and more passionate than the fleeting ones she once had for the stable boy. And it scared her and yet excited her to know how much she wanted Emma in all the possible ways: Emotionally, mentally and physically. In fact, each time the two kissed, Regina felt her body tingling in excitement, her hands becoming bolder with their movements and her legs twitching in anticipation.

Yet she was not sure if Emma was ready for their relationship to become that way. Regina knew that the blonde woman desired her; she could see it in the way Emma's gaze landed on her and how her green eyes darkened when she saw the older woman staring back. But she was scared of revealing that side of her, the one that Emma had read about in her journals. For you see, once she killed the King she decided to enjoy her freedom in all aspects, sex being one of them. Regina was not ashamed of this part of her past, and during her time as Queen she took many lovers, male and female, and explored her sexuality in all kinds of ways: Most of the times she dominated her partner, while in other instances she allowed another to be in control. She used magic to enhance sensations and create fantastic physical settings or she merely fucked wherever she wanted. Sometimes she craved love and tenderness while other times she just wanted to inflict the same pain that she had been put through by Leopold (and most of the time her partners enjoyed that pain). But one thing that they all had in common was that they had all been disposable, usually after just one night, and then she moved on to the next person that intrigued her.

That is, of course, until her life changed and she met Emma: She wanted to satisfy the woman, claim her and own her just as she wanted Emma to do those same things to her. But the difference was that Regina loved Emma, yes loved because she could finally admit it. She wanted to show Emma how much she loved her and in her books, having sex in the middle of the forest was not a good way to do so. She wanted Emma to feel special and unique, recognized as an exceptional individual and a wonderful human being. In order to do so, Regina wanted to romance Emma with physical gestures that showed her appreciation and it annoyed her to think of this because it made her remember that they were in the middle of planning a coup d'état.

"Oh Emma..." Regina answered while taking the blonde's hand and placing it near her chest. "Since the moment I met you I felt that my life was not going to be the same. You make me feel so many things that it takes all of my self-control to not grab you right now and ravage you as you deserve."

Emma moaned and got closer to Regina who closed her eyes. "Then why don't you?" she whispered hotly. "I'm not stopping you. In fact, I want you to. God Regina, I want you so much." she gasped when she felt the brunette's lips land on top of hers.

"Emma..." Regina moaned, and after she had no air left she laid her head back so the blonde could have more access. "Oh God..."

Emma's brain was on overload. After Regina's confession she had felt her body tingle in desperation, bringing to her mind memories of the many entries she had read from Regina's journal. In fact, after the two women had talked about the book it had been hard for Emma to stop thinking of the brunette in such a sexual way. She had completely forgotten about the contents of the books after she first read them when she was 15 years old. But during that time, not only had they opened up a whole new world for her, but they had set her expectations about arousal and desire so high that no one, until Regina, had been able to appease them. If Emma was going to be honest about her desires, then she was also going to be honest about the fact that she was not a virgin. Although the matter had never been questioned by her parents because she knew how to hide her night rendezvous' very well, she was no child when it came to relationships. Still, the need to keep her romances a secret never arose because she usually ended things before they even started. In fact, she finished them when she noticed that her expectations were not met or when the encounter had just been uncomfortable: Tutors, some workers from the castle, some of the noblemen sons and from time to time the maid that dressed her, Emma had not been shy about experimenting and exploring her sexuality and desires.

But now that she was kissing and grinding her body against the woman that had plagued her mind and thoughts ever since the moment she first read about her, she could only imagine being with her in the same way that previous lovers had been lucky enough to be in. Emma was jealous of them and at the same time she was desperate to be in the same situation; so she could show this woman that she was better than them and that no one else could compare because Regina was hers.

Groaning, Emma felt a surge of energy come from her chest and she closed her eyes in excitement at the warmth and arousal that this sudden wave of energy created within her. From far away she could hear Regina gasp in wonderment and then everything became completely dark.

When she finally opened her eyes, Emma found herself in a dark room filled with candles and animal skins strategically set on the floor. She looked around, hoping to identify where she was but the setting was unfamiliar. Moving around, the blonde woman saw a closet and a huge mirror on the other side of the wall. Getting closer to it, Emma noticed that it showed her dressed with a red dress and plumped lips. She usually didn't like to wear the dresses her mother chose for her, but this one was exquisite: It was provocative and yet elegant enough to be used in a ball. Turning around so she could look at every angle of it, she saw that the back was a low cut and it showed her strong shoulders and arms. Smiling in content, she decided to sit on the empty bed and wait for whatever happened. Luckily for her, she didn't have to wait long because the doors opened and a marvelously dressed Regina entered the room, her gaze immediately landing on the blonde. Brown eyes became completely dark, and after licking her lips, the brunette ran towards Emma and kissed her roughly. Groaning because of the contact, it took Emma a few minutes to wonder how the two had landed in such a place, and why this place seemed so familiar to her.

Closing her eyes and enjoying the way Regina was possessively holding her, Emma decided to momentarily let go of all things and stood up from the bed. She brought the older woman along with her, strong thighs wrapping themselves around her waist. Moaning from the way Regina's core was landing on her stomach and the obvious arousing signs coating her dress, Emma moved quickly and went to the mirror and pushed the brunette so she would crash right in front of it.

"Oh Emmaaaa..." Regina groaned and pushed against the blonde.

"God I want you so much..." Emma murmured and attacked the brunette's neck, not caring too much about leaving marks on her neck and rest of her body.

Hands were freely moving around the brunette's blue dress, Emma smiling against plump lips when she noticed that the back of Regina was easily accessible thanks to the low cut of the dress' back . Using her nails to leave soft marks, she heard the older woman's surprised gasp at the action. It was obvious that Regina enjoyed to be marked, and based on the almost black eyes that were hungrily going down her body, the Queen wanted to see more of her. A flick of her wrist and Emma was naked, her hair set loose and Regina openly taking it all in. Smirking when she saw how much she was affecting the older woman, Emma huskily approached her and pushed her to the bed, making her land on her back. She immediately sat on her stomach and smiled when Regina closed her eyes at the sensation of being topped. Emma lowered herself so she could land on the cold floor, and bending her knees, she used her hands to push the end of the Queen's dress up. Luckily, because the texture of the dress automatically made it cling to the older woman's body, it was easy for Emma to simply move it up and keep it away from her prize. Licking her lips in wonderment, she saw that Regina was not wearing anything under the dress and she smiled when the Queen raised her head and stared deeply at her.

The moment the two women's eyes finally made direct contact with each other, Emma could see Regina's dark gaze flicker away and instead surprised eyes look at their surroundings. The brunette, likewise, could see Emma's eyes focus on her and the situation they were in, as if suddenly awakening from a strange dream. When she took notice of where Emma was, Regina screeched and closed her legs in embarrassment, almost feeling sorry for the blonde's blushed face and labored breathing. Almost because this was the blonde's fault. And if this was her fault then that meant Emma had magic.

"Regina?" Emma whispered and the brunette held a moan when she noticed how deep the younger woman's voice was.

It took all of her strength to turn off her arousal and to instead flick her wrist so they would appear back in the forest. Groaning at the feeling of returning back to her conscious state, she saw Emma also hold her head in pain.

"God, what the hell happened?" Emma groaned.

"Magic dear." Regina said while standing up. "Very powerful magic."

"Well, why didn't you warn me? I mean, a little head's up next time when you want to take us on a trip." she then blushed. "Although it was a rather pleasurable one."

Regina laughed loudly. "Oh darling, I was not the one that used magic. This time I was the victim of a magic spell. A memory sharing/placing one."

"Memory sharing/placing? And if you didn't do it, then who was it?"

"Indeed." she husked and approached the blonde woman who looked confused. "Before I tell you let me ask you something first: Were you thinking about my journal while we were kissing?"

Emma blushed and looked down in embarrassment, refusing to answer the question.

Regina took this as confirmation. "And did you imagine yourself in the place of those ex lovers?"

Emma then looked up, getting what Regina was trying to tell her.

"And you felt warmth rise from the inside of your body, even at some point feeling arousal from the sudden flow of energy."

"I did." Emma whispered.

"Then my sweet Emma let me be the first one to tell you that you have magic."

"I have magic?" Emma stuttered.

"Indeed you do, and very powerful one. The spell you just did, it took me years to master and still has me almost drained out of energy when I use it. You, on the other hand, seem to only have a headache."

"But it's impossible, I mean my parents have no magic at all."

"Your parents love is magic, hence it would seem logical that a child born out of True Love would possess that kind of magic."

"The magic of True Love?"

"Yes dear Emma. It is very pure and powerful. It took over my senses, and yours too because you have no idea of how to use your powers, and were it not for that moment when the two of us looked at each other, then the spell would have kept on going until its completion." she snorted the last part while blushing.

"God, Regina, I'm so sorry." Emma apologized while looking down. "Not that I'm sorry about what happened because Gods you have no idea how much I desire you, but that it happened that way."

Regina knew the nerves her lover must have been feeling, and getting closer to her she grabbed her hands in reassurance. "Listen darling, there is no need for you to apologize because of many reasons: First, you had no idea of your magical abilities. Second, we did not do anything, as you can see we are still dressed. Third, what you did in fact do was access one of my memories and manipulate it so you would place yourself in it. Fourth, although you did so without permission, it was not done out of malice, as you may remember I enjoyed it immensely. Finally, I would never be able to get angry at you for wanting to show me how much you want me when I feel the exact same way." she hugged the blonde woman and felt her relax. "Still, you need to learn how to control this magic. I can help you if you want?" Regina murmured shyly.

"Of course I do! It would be an honor to have you as a teacher!"

"Oh Emma!" Regina breathed in relief. "I promise to do my best to guide you in the correct path. I will not let you lose your light and goodness because of magic. I will not let it seduce you the same way it did me and I will always protect you from it."

"I know." Emma said while cupping the brunette's cheek. "I trust you with my life, Regina Mills."

Regina held a sob and kissed Emma soundly on the lips. God, she loved this woman so much that it hurt. Emma had quickly become the sole believer of her redemption path and willing enough to trust her with her life and her goodness. And no matter what, Regina was not going to disappoint or let her fall even if it meant paying the price with her own life. Still, there was something else on the air.

Now that she had been able to get a glimpse of the blonde's magic, Regina felt another individual taking energy from the magical fluctuation. Separating from Emma's lips, she closed her eyes and tried to get any kind of signature that could help her identify to whom it belonged to.

"What's wrong Regina?" Emma asked, suddenly concerned by the brunette's position on the floor.

"Someone is using magic. Someone other than you or me." she added when she felt Emma get ready to ask her another question.

"Perhaps it's someone that just like me discovered that they have magic?" Emma suggested. It always happened from time to time and the royal guards quickly took care of the person.

"No, this magic is not raw like yours. This one has been trained because I can feel it acquiring only the necessary energy from the air." Regina whispered and focused on green eyes. "The person that is using this magic is an old magical being."

"But that's impossible Regina. They were all killed during the Sorcerers' Wars."

"Well, it seems that someone managed to escape because I am certain of what I just told you."

"And can you not identify who the owner of the magic is?" Emma asked, looking around the area in case someone decided to jump them.

"I am afraid I cannot. If the user is too far away I will not be able to catch the essence of the magic but merely the action of them taking energy to perform the magic."

"I still don't understand."

"Imagine a well with water in it. All the people from the village take water from it and unless I am physically near the well, I will not be able to see who uses it. But, I will still know someone used it because the moment I come back to grab water I will find it emptier. It is the same with magic."

"Ok, I think I get it now." Emma said worried. "So should we be concerned by this?"

"Well, just as I am able to feel the presence of this being, this being can also feel my own. I do not know if that being is aware of my return or of the fact that I still have my magic, but unless we want to be found again, we must prevent ourselves from using our magic."

"But without magic we won't be able to set camp or get the things that we need to survive in the forest."

"I am aware." Regina said and with a flick of her wrist a bag filled with coins appeared on her hand.

"Shit, did you just create money? Will I learn to do that?"

Regina smiled. "First thing about magic: Magic is energy, and since energy cannot be created, magic cannot create things. What it can do is transform things, or in the case of this money, transport it from one of my many hidden vaults."

"Cool." Emma grinned. "So I guess this means that we will have to stop at villages?"

"Indeed." Regina muttered darkly. "Since your parents' guards are such brutes, with enough caution we will be able to blend in completely quite easily. We will limit ourselves to roam around as less as possible and will refrain from going to taverns or other places where guards are most likely to gather."

Emma groaned at the idea of not being able to drink a beer but understood that Regina was right. They were close to the Dark Kingdom, and this was not the time to indulge in unnecessary dangers although they were fun and she knew Regina enjoyed them too.

_(End of Flashback)_

"Remember dear, no unnecessary exposure. I do not have the energy to again save you from the royal guards." Regina teased her and Emma laughed.

"Well..." she took an olive hand and kissed it. "Maybe I would stop trying to find people that want to kill us if you didn't have as much fun as I do when we fight."

"It is rather amusing to imagine your mother's face when we send her back her beat-up guards." Regina smirked. "But this time we have to be careful. Did you find the stables so you could leave Bug there?" she let go of Emma's hand and saw her sad look. "I have no shame in being seen with you, but the guards are searching for us and although not unheard of, same-sex couples are rather uncommon. We do not want to earn the stare of people and in return gain the curiosity of the royal guards."

"I understand." Emma really did, but still couldn't stop herself from thinking that the brunette didn't want her the same way the blonde needed her. She had always been an insecure person when it came to emotions.

Regina noticed this and got closer to Emma. "Darling, I want you with me. I need you with me." she whispered vehemently. "Please believe me."

Emma nodded and felt a last warm kiss land on her ear and smiled softly. They only needed to make it through the night and everything would be fine: 2 more days and they would reach the safety that the Dark Forest could give them.

**Somewhere in the Enchanted Forest,**

Red felt her body relax from the pressure and closed her eyes in an attempt to calm the pain that came every time she had to go through a transformation. Hearing a growl nearby, she saw that Granny was also on the floor, subtly covering herself so she would not scar her granddaughter. The two women had agreed on traveling the forest in wolf form, hoping that way to better catch Emma's smell and be protected from any creature that wanted to attack them. Lucky for them, they had been able to stay undetected and in course thanks to the fact that Red could recognize, although faint at some point, her goddaughter's signature smell of vanilla. Although at some points she could find it mixed with cinnamon, Red decided to ignore this fact and just trace the young woman and the Evil Queen. While they rested from their wolf form, Red had told Granny in detail what she had seen the day before. She had been a little skeptic at first, but when they had stopped at a nearby village for some weaponry for Granny's bow, they heard that the MerryMen were brutally killed by the Evil Queen. A curse apparently had been placed inside Robin Hood's heart and it had forced him to kill all of his men and finally finish his own life. Disgusted by the lies Snow White was telling the kingdom, and concerned about what this could mean for Regina and her attempt to organize a coup, the two women knew that they had to hurry and make their way to the Dark Kingdom as fast as possible. They were growing wary of making appearances in their human forms, expecting royal guards to identify them and question them, or even worse, return them to the palace. They were not sure if Snow White found out about them leaving the castle, but they were not stupid and they didn't want to confirm or deny their suspicions.

"I don't think Snow White told her people that we left. It would do no good for her and for the villagers to find out that her war council is abandoning her." Granny told her.

"Yeah, but look at what she did to the Merrymen. She could simply say that the Evil Queen placed a spell on us that forced us to betray her. Or she could say that we got recruited by the rebellion and were acting as spies during this whole time." Red shrugged in surrender. "Whatever the case, we lose in all the scenarios."

"We have no one to help us Red." Granny murmured. "And based on what you told me, Snow White has a wizard working for her. He could easily find us with a tracking spell. And if we are with Emma then we will just lead them straight to her."

"Don't you think I already went over those scenarios?" Red exclaimed. "I have no fucking idea of what Snow could do because I don't know her anymore. I don't think she wants anyone to know that she has a person with magic on her royal court. Because of that, I think she will refrain from using his abilities in such a public matter. It is different to suddenly say you found the location of the princess than to use magic to take a heart out in an abandoned dungeon. The other kingdoms would consider it treason and will surely attack her."

"I guess you are right." Granny huffed.

"We need to shift back into our wolf so we can continue tracking Emma." Red said while taking her cape off.

"But didn't you smell it Red? The trail continues towards the outside of the forest. That's where I went before coming back here. For some reason Emma and the Evil Queen decided to leave the forest and go into the village."

"Are they crazy?!" Red shrieked. "They willingly entered a town filled with Royal guards! I bet this was all a part of Regina's plan: Make Emma trust her and lower her defenses, and when this happened simply dump her in a village and make her way towards the Dark Castle."

"Who knows." Granny said while hiding her bow. "But the smell is a day old, which means that they will surely leave soon."

"Then we better go and find Emma, and fast." Red huffed in anger and Granny merely followed, knowing better to just keep her thoughts to herself.

The moment Red entered the town she felt her body recoil, tense at the sensations that were coming from the air: She could smell blood and also magic inside the mix. Seeing that Granny had caught the same odor, the two women took their weapons out and ran towards the place where the screams were coming from. What they saw there left them completely speechless because it was something that they had never seen:

In the middle of a circle made of Royal guards stood the Evil Queen and Emma, the two of them looking for any kind of escape route or weakness in the human shield. Huffing in annoyance, Emma raised her hand and Red saw purple smoke cover it to only make way for a long and beautiful sword.

Meanwhile, Regina had been laying on the ground, her hands touching the dirty floor and muttering soft unintelligible words to herself. The moment she finished, she looked up at the men and instead of brown eyes they saw purple energy flooding through them. Recoiling in sudden fear at the image, when Regina crashed her hands to the floor all the men rose to the air, an advantage that Emma used immediately to slash one of the men's arm which was quickly followed a howl of pain that indicating that she didn't miss. Smirking and winking at the older brunette who simply shrugged unimpressed, Emma then went to the next man that was standing up from the ground and kicked him on his chest, the action making him land on a nearby cart. Now that there was a hole in the shield, Regina magically got herself a bow and arrows. After building a shield around her that would keep anyone from getting too close, she took aim and let go of the arrow, it immediately landing on a man's leg and rendering him unable to fight. Quickly, she took another arrow and fired it, again not missing the target.

"I didn't know you were capable of using a bow." Emma screamed to her from afar.

Regina turned around and saw the blonde in a hand to hand fight. When she noticed that the blonde land a punch on the man's face and then a kick to finish him off, the brunette answered her. "Who do you think taught Snow White?" she smirked and got a smashing smile in return.

Red had been watching speechless the massacre that was happening in front of her. Each time a guard got too close to Emma, she saw how purple magic enveloped the man and held him immobile, giving the blonde enough time to notice the threat and do something about it. Obviously, Regina was protecting Emma and that made her question what was going on between the two women. Nevertheless, knowing better than the blonde how magic worked, Red saw that the shield that the witch had placed around herself for protection was getting weaker, and that at any moment it was going to fall, leaving her open to attacks.

When Emma heard one of the men scream at each other, she focused on what they were saying and could hear 'use an arrow now that her shield went down'. Emma felt time freeze and she tried to get rid of the current guard with whom she was sparing, her attempts all futile because they were trying to keep her still. Desperate enough,  the blonde woman stretched her hand and felt her magic pushing through, allowing her to capture the man in front of her in a plant trap. Not even caring about rendering him unconscious, Emma moved towards Regina and saw that she was keeping two men at bay with some swords that she must have probably magicked for herself. Not so far away, Emma noticed a man prepare his bow while taking aim at the witch's back. The younger woman stretched her hand and wished for the man to fall back but nothing happened. Tears falling from her eyes, Emma realized that she was too far away and she knew that she would not reach the guard in time.

"Regina no!" she screamed when she felt the man pull his arm backwards in preparation. Expecting to see him let the arrow go, what happened instead was that a mass of red jumped on top of the man and swiftly kicked him in the head, rendering him unconscious. 

Exhaling in relief, Emma quickly searched for her lover in the midst of all the chaos, and gratefully saw her getting rid of the second man that had been quarrelling with her. Running towards the stranger who had just saved Regina's life, she screamed when she saw who it was.

"Red!" she screamed and hugged the woman tightly. "What are you doing here?!"

"Emma!" Red said and kept her goddaughter close to her chest. "We came to find you." she said vehemently and again hugged the blonde.

"We?" Emma asked and saw Granny make her way towards Regina who had been surrounded by the remaining guards. When Regina made notice of the older woman's presence she merely nodded in recognition and continued to fight.

"I don't understand." Emma said confused while concentrating on getting a bow. When she saw white smoke make way for one she smiled happily.

"That's not Regina's magic." Red said while getting the bow of the man they had just knocked out and shooting some of the guards.

"Because it's not." Emma said and killed three men in quick succession. "It's mine Red."

"You have magic?" she said with complete awe.

"I just found out yesterday." Emma told her while getting closer to Regina and Granny. "And the moment we reach safety inside the forest will be the moment I tell you everything."

Red nodded in acceptance and continued shooting arrow behind arrow.

Once the Army guards men stopped coming, the four women relaxed and threw the weapons they had acquired on the floor. Regina, not caring about who saw her, ran towards Emma and enveloped her in a strong hold. She checked the blonde for any signs of injury, and when the young woman said that it tickled, she relaxed and stared angrily at her.

"Regina?" Emma asked, knowing she was in trouble.

"Are you out of your mind Emma?! How can you be so irresponsible?! I told you what we needed to do, and again, instead of listening to me you do what you want and endanger not only your life, but mine as well as the ones of the people that live in this village!" Regina screamed at her.

"I didn't mean to Regina..." Emma whispered and tried to get the brunette to look at her.

"You never mean to." the brunette said darkly. "But since the moment we met, you have thrown yourself at danger as if it was nothing. You just do it because of the fun, not caring about the consequences."

Meanwhile Red and Granny had been merely witnesses to the discussion that was going on between the two women. None of them dared to say anything.

"But it's not my fault that they attack us!" Emma screamed.

"Yes it is! And what this recklessness shows me is how little you care about my feelings." she whispered and this made the blonde grab the brunette's cheek firmly.

"Never say that Regina." Emma begged.

"How can I not say that when I have told you everything about my past, how scared I am of losing people I love and what losing you could do to me." she said firmly.

"People you love?" Emma whispered hopefully.

"Yes Emma, people I love. Because I cannot explain it, or understand how, but I do love you Emma Swan." she confessed while tears were falling from her eyes. "And every time I imagine losing you, it terrifies me. And..." she laughed. "Not only do I have to worry about my thoughts but also about your suicidal actions. Tell me, how can I trust you when all you do is put yourself in danger?"

"Regina, you can trust me. I will always protect you. I would give my life for you." she said and looked up to brown eyes. "Because I love you." she felt tears fall from her eyes. "So much."

"I do not want you to give your life in exchange for mine. I want you to be mindful of yours and what losing you could do to me!" she screamed. "I am not a stupid or naive woman, and I know that you will fight in the rebellion. But it is one thing to fight because one has to and another one completely different to do so because you are 'bored.'" she spat and made her way towards the forest.

Emma immediately tried to run towards her but got stopped by a speechless Red.

"No Red, I have to go to her. I have to explain." Emma begged.

"Explain what? That you did just what she accused you of doing?" Red said knowingly. "Because that sounds just like you."

"I don't know why I did it." Emma whispered and tears fell from her eyes. "I really didn't look to start a fight but one of the guards was being physical with a woman."

"And you couldn't let it go." Red whispered knowingly.

"He was going to rape her Red! I had to do something." Emma said vehemently. "Regina had gone to see a merchant in hope of getting us some herbs and I made my way towards the guard and kicked him. The thing is that the screams of the woman got the attention of the people and what they saw was me beating the guard. They immediately called the royal guards and that was the moment when Regina came out."

"But you enjoy to place yourself in those types of situations." Red still scolded her.

"I had to do something Red, I couldn't just let that man rape that woman." Emma said dejectedly. "But you know me, I love to use my sword and fight. I can't help it because it's a part of me."

"Of course you had to save her." Red smiled warmly. "You have always had this tendency of wanting to save people."

"But Regina..." Emma whispered sadly.

"Regina is a complex woman that has lost a lot in life." Granny said and that was the moment the two women noticed her presence. "But child, what she said, about her loving you, was no lie."

"I know." Emma said dejectedly. "And I just ruined it all."

"I don't think so pup." Red told her lovingly. "She is just upset because she doesn't know the whole story."

"I have to talk to her now." Emma said desperately. "I can feel her pain inside my chest." she whimpered. "And I know she feels mine."

"When did it start?" Granny asked the young woman.

"It started right after we confessed our love for one another." she murmured.

"And do you know what that means?" Red asked Emma.

Emma shook her head.

"The connection of feelings and emotions comes from one of the oldest magic known in this realm." Red said while smiling softly.

"True Love." Emma whispered in awe. "Regina is my True Love." she smiled softly but then looked at the two older women and scrunched her nose. "And you are ok with this?"

"We are magical beings Emma." Granny said. "Do we like the Evil Queen? No, she hurt many people. But..." she raised her hand before the blonde could interrupt her. "Do we hate Regina? The answer is no. And, based on the way that woman allowed her own shield to fall down so you would be protected, I will assume that on this occasion we are talking about Regina."

"Besides." Red smiled warmly. "Who are we to challenge or question True Love?"

Emma felt tears fall from her eyes, and thankful for the support of the two women she had grown to love during her time in the White Palace, she held them close and thanked them for being with her.

"Now..." Red said while looking around and watching the villagers leave their houses. "I suggest we go to the forest and find Regina. We have much to tell you."

SQSQSQSQSQ

Regina was angrily pacing around the forest, tears falling from her face in frustration at Emma and herself. She hated the emotions that poured out of her chest every time the blonde did something dangerous. She felt weak at having stormed out in such a way or of having admitted her feelings in front of Snow's pets. Not only did it hurt to know that Emma cared so little about herself, but it was worse to see that Emma felt that she did not wrong and refused to consider her feelings about it. Just imagining a life without Emma was painful, and to then see Emma surrounded by a battalion of White Guards was terrifying. From an strategic point of view, it had surprised Regina the amount of guards that were stationed in the village, probably expecting to find the women and capture them. In fact, this little surprise attack helped her realize that there would probably be more troops the closer they got to the Dark Castle. She had expected Snow to be more naive when it came to governing, but now it seemed that the woman wasn't completely incompetent.

Regina stopped walking when she felt an unbearable pain in her chest, one that became even worse because it was not physical but from a mixture of her feelings with the ones of Emma. Closing her eyes and focusing on them, the brunette could feel the regret that the blonde felt along with the need to explain what had happened. Regina then realized that she was in sync with Emma's emotions and feelings and this made her smile in wonderment. Could this be what she suspected it to be? Was it possible for her to finally experience this? Could it be possible that Emma White was her True Love? If she was, and based on what she had just experienced, then this was such an irony that it made the brunette laugh in relief.

"So this is what you meant when you told me to love again?" she asked Fate while happy tears fell from her eyes.

"Regina?!" she heard Emma scream and immediately ran towards her.

"Emma..." she said in relief and wonderment. "Did you..."

"Yes, I felt it too!" Emma screamed happily. "By the Gods Regina, it feels wonderful. Your heart and feelings are an amazing thing to feel." she said in complete awe and cupped the brunette's cheeks. "I am sorry." she whispered while looking down.

"I know." Regina replied while accepting the blonde's caress. "I am sorry too."

"I just had to do something Regina. That guard, he was going to rape a woman and I had to stop him." Emma said vehemently.

"I understand." she smiled sadly. "And that is why I love you so much: Because you are a savior."

"You still love me?" Emma whispered happily.

"With all my damaged heart and broken soul." Regina said back and took the blonde in her arms and kissed her.

Emma moaned when she felt a white light come out of her chest and opened her eyes to see Regina staring at the two of them in complete fascination. She laughed when Regina started laughing too and continued kissing the brunette.

"What does that white light mean?"

"That white light is magic Emma." Regina said happily. "It is good magic and it comes from True Love."

"And it came from you too." Emma smiled and hugged the brunette. "Which means that not all of your magic is dark. You have light magic too because True Love is the purest kind of magic."

Regina looked at her, clearly surprised and Emma shrugged. "I do listen to what you have to say." the two women laughed again and continued kissing each other, moans coming from the two of them.

"Well, this is awkward." Red muttered and this made the two kissing women separate from each other.

Emma looked down in embarrassment and Red could see that Regina was blushing brightly.

"Thank you." the witch murmured and this earned her the surprised looks of Red and Granny. "For saving Emma and hence myself."

The two women nodded in acceptance and then Red approached the witch.

"I know what I saw." she told her. "And although it is hard for me to accept because I only knew you as the Evil Queen, I cannot question Fate and the path it has made for the two of you."

"Thank you." Regina whispered. "I will protect Emma with my life, that I promise you."

"I know." Red smiled warmly. "You love her."

"With everything I have." Regina surprised herself by being so open to Snow's friend but felt that it was the right thing to say.

"Again, hurt this little girl and you will find three arrows in your head." Granny threatened Regina.

"Granny!" Emma said while putting herself in front of the brunette.

"If I do anything that does hurt her I will fire those arrows myself." Regina said and got a small smile from the older woman.

"Good." Emma replied, still not separating from Regina. "Not that we are not thankful, or that I'm not glad to see you, but what the hell are you doing here? Did my mother send you?" she whispered darkly and took Regina's hand, silently letting the woman know that she was ready if they needed to transport.

"No." Red said darkly. "In fact, we left the palace because of her."

"What do you mean?" Emma asked, upset at her mother for forcing her oldest friends to leave.

"We had to. We had to find you and warn you." she looked at Emma and then at Regina. "Your mother wants you alive so she can marry you off to Prince Killian."

"We know that already. In fact, my mother sent us a present in the form of the Merrymen not too long ago."

"They are dead." Red whispered and this earned her the surprised looks of Emma and Regina. "By the hands of the Evil Queen."

"That's impossible!" Emma screamed. "Regina sent them back to the dungeons. I was there and saw them all alive."

"I know." Red replied.

"Then why did you just say that Regina killed them when you know she didn't?"

"Because that is what Snow White told the kingdom."

"Of course she did." Regina whispered darkly. "I have to give her merit, she is not as stupid as I believed her to be."

"What do you mean?" Granny was the one that asked.

"She knew that I would send at least one of her men back, alive. She expected it because she knew that I would use the situation to mock her. By doing so, she would have someone to tell her about my current powers. I bet she did not expect me to return her whole army."

"Are you saying that my mother was the one that killed the Merrymen?" Emma asked in complete shock.

"And she is right." Red whispered. "I was there and I saw it all."

"How did she do it in such a secretive way? If she had employed her other guards she would have lost the support of the peasants." Regina asked.

"She had a man with her, he is a member of the royal court, and he took Robin Hood's heart."

Emma's face fell, knowing exactly how it could have been possible for the man to achieve this. Regina had been right: someone had avoided death during the Sorcerers' War and was currently being used by her mother.

"She then placed a curse on the heart that forced Robin Hood to kill all of the Merrymen and then himself. After this, she blamed Regina for the crime."

"And since I used to take out hearts it was not hard for the people to assume that it was me." Regina finished and Red nodded.

"That's not all." Red said.

"What else can you tell us that would make things worse?!" Emma screamed. "You just basically told us that my mother suddenly became a cold hearted murderer, a criminal mastermind and war strategist."

"Perhaps that the wizard that she is currently using to do dark biddings is also her lover could make things worse?" Granny simply said and got a scold from Red and the shocked looks of Regina and Emma.

"But... but my parents have True Love." Emma whispered dejectedly.

"Are you certain of this?" Regina asked Red while putting herself behind the blonde and hugging her tightly.

"If by certain you mean watching the two of them kiss and hump each other in a hidden hallway after they told a man to kill his men and then himself, then yes, I am certain." Red said darkly and Regina felt Emma's dead weight fall on her arms.


End file.
